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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23018587">Pot, Meet Kettle</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asukachan07/pseuds/Asukachan07'>Asukachan07</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>WestAllen AUs [14]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Flash (TV 2014)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Angst, Barry Allen &amp; Iris West Friendship, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Kinda, POV Iris West, Slow Burn, Teenage Drama</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 11:48:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>29,200</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23018587</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asukachan07/pseuds/Asukachan07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>To regain her social status as a popular kid and have a chance to get elected prom queen, Iris West must complete a token, a misdeed that would earn her back the respect of the other popular kids.<br/>What will she do when that token involves none other than Barry Allen, the reason why she lost her privilege?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Barry Allen/Iris West, past Iris West/Scott Evans</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>WestAllen AUs [14]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1471967</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>143</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>169</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Token</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vani_vani/gifts">Vani_vani</a>, <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/harryspatton/gifts">harryspatton</a>, <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jennlee44/gifts">Jennlee44</a>, <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/KYM650/gifts">KYM650</a>, <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karigane/gifts">Karigane</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Also gifted to swagstudentmilkshake5. I should be completing my WIPs, not creating new ones, but the muse does what the muse wants.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>Iris West, captain of the cheerleaders team and former princess of the royal family of the cool kids at Central City High School, couldn't explain to you why she'd lost her royal status to rescue Barry Allen, the nerd who'd helped her pass the AP pre-calc class she'd challenged herself with last year to improve her chance to win the homecoming queen election.</p><p>Maybe it was because, despite not winning the prized title of homecoming queen last fall, Iris had earned the attention and pride of her mother, who seemed to always be disappointed in her life plans.</p><p>So yeah, she'd owed Allen a little for that B+ in pre-calc. But being shunned by her own people for not letting Tony Woodward smash the nerd's head had made the good deed not worth breaking a fundamental rule of the CC High Social Status Constitution: <em> mind your own business </em>.</p><p>And now she had to stoop as low as all the A-listers wannabes to get back to the top.</p><p>(Not quite the top: she shared the princess status with Stacy Conwell and Kamilla Hwang. The top spot was taken by the homecoming queen, Rebecca "Becky" Cooper.)</p><p>"I demand a token," Iris blurted out once she reached the table at which she used to have a reserved seat.</p><p>It had been a whole fucking week since she had to find a new place to sit down during lunchtime. Her, Iris Ann West, hated by no one (but clearly not loved enough by anyone among the royal family to go against Woodward, the undeserving homecoming king).</p><p>The cheerleaders table was always full, and even it weren't Iris knew that her team knew better than to follow her lead in breaking implicit rules of the CC High Social Status Constitution. </p><p>Plenty of B-list groups had invited Iris to join them last week, and some had even been shameless enough to offer her their share of brownies—the only food worth eating at the cafeteria, which was why it ran out so fast. Without her royalty status, Iris had to wait in line like everybody else, and she'd almost had a breakdown last Wednesday when she'd gone without her cocoa fix for the third day in a row.</p><p>Iris appreciated the general unspoken faith that she would get her royal status back, which was the only reason why the other students were being nice to her: they hoped that she'd remember them when she was back at the cool kids' table. But Iris was done doing 'lesser' students a favor. Helping the uncrowned king of nerds was what had gotten her in this predicament in the first place. She'd go eat at her secret corner of the gym again, right behind the bins of basketballs. She was almost used to the solitude now—that was obviously a lie. Anyways, it wouldn't last forever, she was going to secure her ticket back into the VIP club in a few days or so.</p><p>"Told you," Becky Cooper stage whispered to no one in particular, making half of the table giggle.</p><p>'Token' was code for 'challenge', aka a mission to prove that you were exactly the bad bitch or total dick that you claimed to be, and deserved to be on the A-list.</p><p>The thing was, Iris West <em> wasn't </em> a bad bitch. She was just great at pretending to be one. She needed some type of public recognition to get a full ride for college. She wasn't a 4.0 student, and her ex-boyfriend Scott Evans (another A-lister who might rightfully argue that she <em>was</em> in fact a bad bitch) had unapologetically stolen her chance to be the chief editor of the school's newspapers. Iris had been lucky to be athletic enough to join the cheerleader team when she'd busted her chance of joining the student council by forgetting the application deadline.</p><p>Getting elected king or queen was an official demonstration of leadership and interpersonal skills at CC High, as many former royals were big shots in the real world. Iris' own mother, D.A. Francine West, had been a homecoming queen.</p><p>Therefore, getting elected prom queen was Iris' last chance to hope for a full scholarship for CCU. She was a great writer and had already written her personal statement, no worries there. She'd worked her phenomenal ass off to keep her GPA slightly above 3.0. She'd participated in all the fundraising events that the school had organized to make sure that the principal and board of trustees knew her name. Her team had won three championships since she became captain.</p><p>But that wouldn't be enough against nerds like Barry Allen who brought medals that they won on their own with their big brains. There were no less than three geniuses at CC High who rivaled the hard working king of nerds in the awards category: Francisco Ramon, and the twins Ray and Sydney Palmer. The Palmer brothers were rich, so they didn't need a scholarship. But other smart kids would, like Caitlin Snow, CC High's most famous teacher's pet (even Professor Wells liked her, which was the best stamp of approval a nerd could ask for); Barry Allen himself, who was born rich, but with his father in jail for the murder of his mother, no one knew if he still held the status.</p><p>Then there was Becky Cooper, president of the tea party club (you heard right, but don't ask any question); Tony Woodward, quarterback of the football team; Scott Evans, chief editor of the school's newspaper; and Linda Park, president of the student council and the best friend Iris didn't deserve.</p><p>Six students guaranteed to ask for financial aid at the end of the school year, seven if Barry Allen didn't have some trust fund to his name…And only three full scholarships to hand out. Iris' chance to get one was thin, but it <em> existed </em> as long as she got elected prom queen. </p><p>Which wouldn't happen if she remained a social pariah when the campaign started in a month.</p><p>"You're so predictable, Iris," Becky claimed as she brought out the token suggestion basket with a flourish. "Here, take your pick."</p><p>"I wrote a few of them," Tony Woodward let her know with a sleazy smile.</p><p><em> Oh God, please, no, </em> Iris prayed as she lowered her hand into the basket of folded pieces of paper.</p><p><em> I'd do anything but service Tony Woodward in any way, </em> she promised silently as she withdrew her hand, a neatly folded square of pink paper between her trembling fingers.</p><p>"Oh, that's mine," Becky Cooper sing-songed.</p><p><em> Fuck my life </em>, Iris lamented internally as she unfolded the paper to find out what unpalatable deed she had to do to get a chance at becoming this year's prom queen.</p><p>
  <b> <em>Take Barry Allen's virginity and bring proof of doing it.</em> </b>
</p><p>Iris must have stood there frozen for a whole minute.</p><p>
  <em> What? </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Kudos and comments are always appreciated!</p><p>This was a short exposition chapter, but all other chapters will be centered around West-Allen!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Codes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Iris reaches out to Barry.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I <strong>swear</strong> I was trying to make this a harmless teenage drama thing, but some plot wove its way into the story. Some of you are used to me and plots by now, but for the others...Sorry. It will make sense soon, I promise. There are only three chapters left.<br/>In other news, enjoy the West-Allen and let me know if you have a favorite secondary character (there isn't much of Cisco in this chapter, so don't cheat by saying him!)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>“If you tell me what the token is about <em> right now</em>, I promise to let you fact-check the article I’ll write about it before I print it in a special edition,” came a familiar voice as Iris was putting her books away for the day.</p><p>Scott. </p><p><em> Of course </em>he’d heard about the token, even though he hadn't been in the cafeteria earlier. Some other members of the school’s newspaper (aka his lackeys who brought him his lunch) must have told him what had happened during lunchtime.</p><p>Once upon a time, Iris and Scott were destined to be the power couple of CC High. In fact, Iris might not have become popular at all if her reputation as Scott’s girlfriend from CC Junior High School hadn’t established her as a top member of the CC High’s social hierarchy from the get go. Scott was one of those few students who oozed swag and had their whole lives figured out ahead of everybody, and he was popular exactly because he didn’t care about popularity. He did his thing without giving a shit about what people thought, and people admired him for it.</p><p>Iris had broken things off with him halfway through freshman year because she’d found out that Scott had bad-mouthed her behind her back to Mr. Bridge, the social studies teacher who supervised the school newspaper. Scott had apologized later on, confessing that he’d been too keen on impressing Mr. Bridge, a Pulitzer Prize winner who’d seemed to think that Iris was just a ‘pretty face with undeserving ambitions’. Things might have gone back to normal had Scott not then claimed that anyways Iris wasn't even a true aspiring journalist, that she'd applied to the newspaper just to be in the same club as him.</p><p>Being underestimated by her own boyfriend had deeply hurt Iris, and she hadn’t found the strength to forgive him for his so-called blunder, especially when said blunder had cost her a spot in the newspaper. Scott had accused Iris of conveniently dumping him after using him to climb the social ladder, and had predicted that she wouldn't last among the 'wolves' without him.</p><p>Just to spite him, Iris had joined the cheerleaders team and she had been just fine navigating the world of debauchery her school’s athletes live in, building her own popularity without Scott’s influence in sophomore year once she became the team's captain.</p><p>So, yeah, Scott and her weren’t the best of friends, but they weren’t enemies either. He'd had no part in her losing her royal status.</p><p>That wouldn’t stop him from entertaining the masses with her social life struggles. Iris respected Scott's commitment to accurately inform people about what they wanted to hear, even if for now his audience were a bunch of teenagers bored during the relatively drama-free pre-campaign period.</p><p>“You’ll hear about it eventually, at the same time as <em> everyone else,</em>” Iris deadpanned as she slammed her locker door after taking her time to straighten her belongings.</p><p>Most of the students who had started gathering around the former couple hurriedly resumed their walks, to Iris’ satisfaction.</p><p>One week wasn’t enough for her to fully lose the respect of her peers, at least not those who weren’t popular kids themselves. As soon as Iris redeemed her token, things would be as if her fall from grace had never happened in the first place.</p><p>For that to happen she had to get in touch with Barry Allen, soon and <em> discreetly</em>. </p><p>“Oh, you have <em> that look</em>,” Scott said with a fake intimidated look as he leaned against a locker two rows down from Iris’. “I pity whoever your target is.”</p><p>“<em>You </em> could be my target,” she pointed out with a shrug.</p><p>“Now, <em> that </em> would be worth publishing in a special edition,” he replied with a grin of his own, his perfect teeth out for a brief moment. “But you know better than me that none of your popular <em> friends </em> would dare write down my name in a token, so…”</p><p>Without completing his sentence or even saying goodbye, he walked away, whispers and giggles following him. </p><p>Iris rolled her eyes at his cockiness, only to then see Barry Allen standing frozen a few feet away, glancing nervously between her and Scott’s retreating form.</p><p>Yeah, Allen’s locker <em> was </em> the one two rows away from Iris’, which was the reason why she’d been at the right place and time to rescue him from Tony a week ago.</p><p>The nerd looked like he wanted to say something, but he wisely kept quiet as he opened his locker and emptied the backpack that seemed to weigh heavier than him.</p><p>Somehow he fumbled (must be hard being all tall and gangly like that) and dropped a math textbook that skidded across the linoleum floor and gently bumped Iris' heels.</p><p>“Oh my God,” Allen muttered with a quick look towards the ceiling as he juggled the other books and the expensive-looking calculator that he’d saved from the fall.</p><p>Iris subtly surveyed her surroundings, and once she assessed that no one was looking her way, she stealthily took out her notepad and pen from the outer pocket of her backpack (she was a <em> true </em> aspiring journalist, contrary to what Scott thought, so her notepad was well-used) and scribbled down a bunch of nonsense math formulas among which she sneaked in a coded message.</p><p>Then, as Allen finished filling up his backpack with other books (he was a tutor after all, the day wasn’t over for him), she pretended to pick up his textbook, but dropped it back down and away from her when he turned around.</p><p>“Ah,” she said mildly, faking an apologetic tone.</p><p>“Sorry, <em> sorry</em>,” Barry apologized much more sincerely before he kneeled down to pick up the book and secure the piece of paper threatening to fall out of it.</p><p>Iris took advantage of her temporary bird view to admire the blush on his face that highlighted the twin moles under each of his eyes. She had forgotten about them.</p><p>Oh, yeah, <em> by the way. </em></p><p>Iris hadn't met Barry in high school. The Allens used to live two blocks away from the Wests. On the night of Nora Allen's murder when Barry and Iris were eleven years old, Iris' cop dad had taken Barry in for the night until his relatives could arrive from out of town. Iris had kept Barry company on the couch in the living room, letting him lie down on her lap as he cried himself to sleep. Until then, the two children had been the best of friends. </p><p>After the tragedy Barry had left town with his uncle and aunt-in-law, and he had returned to Central City in ninth grade, so much taller than Iris remembered that it had taken her two whole quarters to realize that he was back. Except for Linda and Tony, no one at CC High knew of Barry and Iris' former friendship, and clearly Allen hadn't told anyone, so Iris didn't feel the need to advertise the fact either.</p><p>So, yeah, Iris should've minded her own business a week ago and let Allen get a black eye, but <em> damn it</em>, she used to chew Barry's bullies for breakfast. <em> Tony </em> included. Maybe the football player had forgotten the taste of her fists after all this time, but she had kept up with her boxing lessons until she started high school, and despite being busy with the cheer team now she did practice now and then on her own.</p><p>Iris would never admit it to anyone, not even to Linda, but the truth of the matter was that seeing her childhood friend cowering next to Woodward had triggered some kind of muscle memory in her. And since she <em> had </em> owed the nerd for the good grade in the college-level math class, her brain had allowed her body to act on her heart's sudden urge to defend Allen.</p><p>It's what any decent human being would've done, really, but it was contrary to the average high schooler's survival instinct: opposing someone bigger, stronger and with a higher social status.</p><p>Back to the present, Allen’s friend Cisco Ramon appeared from one end of the hallway, while Stacy Conwell and Kamilla Hwang appeared from the other.</p><p>Ramon frowned at Barry, who was still blushing as he shoved the math book in his backpack. </p><p>“If you tell us about the token, we might be able to help you out,” Kamilla offered Iris from a safe distance, her fake whispering almost comical.</p><p>“What’s that token thing even about?” Ramon asked absent-mindedly as he checked his phone.</p><p>When he looked back up, he was faced with identically unimpressed looks from Iris, Kamilla and Stacy.</p><p>“Let’s go Cisco,” Barry said urgently after closing his locker.</p><p>“Don’t forget to read your notes, nerd!” Iris called out to him meanly. “Looks like some weird<em> code </em> to me, no wonder you guys can't speak normal English!”</p><p>Ramon scowled at her before following Barry, who used his long legs to get away from her even faster.</p><p>“<em>That’s </em> who Tony was bullying?” Stacy asked, acting like she hadn't witnessed Iris verbally harassing Allen. “Poor guy. Looks like someone who knows his place though, so why would Tony pick on him?”</p><p>“Easy access," Kamilla guessed as she pointed to the opposite side of the lockers area. "The guy's locker is right there across from Tony's."</p><p>"And it's right next to yours," she added as she nodded to Iris. "Watching Woodward causing a ruckus right under your nose must have been annoying. He had no right to ask for your demotion…Sorry for not backing you up last week, Iris. We should've.”</p><p>"Yeah, we shouldn't have blindly followed Becky's lead," Stacy contributed sheepishly. "She wouldn't help us if we were the ones thrown under the bus. But <em> you </em> would."</p><p>Iris appreciated the apologies, but she couldn't show that she cared.</p><p>“How about you two make it up to me by helping me with my campaign once I successfully redeem my token?” she requested instead.</p><p>Stacy was a cheerleader too, so Iris didn't doubt that she had her support, especially now that she seemed eager to redeem herself to her captain.</p><p>Kamilla was a member of the newspaper’s editorial team, but just like Iris she was underestimated by Mr. Bridge. She was only given the tasks that Scott and his lackeys found beneath them, so she didn't have much to do most days. </p><p>Hwang would gain popularity herself by showing her face around campus to advertise Iris as the perfect prom queen candidate. The proposition was serving the other princess too, which was why Iris had hopes that she would accept it.</p><p>"Deal," Kamilla replied with a big smile before she and Stacy discreetly waved her goodbye and took their leave.</p><p>Iris sighed in relief, glad that no one had caught on her little subterfuge, not even Barry himself.</p><p>She hoped that he wouldn't discard the piece of paper she'd slipped in his math textbook once he realized that it wasn't his.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Iris spent the evening rehearsing the low impact version of the new cheer choreography, then stalking the multiple group chats Linda had let her join anonymously. They weren't the most consistent sources of information, but Iris would rather use them to keep up with the school drama and legit student affairs than be seen reading Scott's stupid newspaper. </p><p>So far, there was no word circulating about her taking a token. People were actually interested to know if she and Scott were getting back together (<em>he wished!</em>) because that would be just 'perfect': everyone believed that Evans would be elected prom king. Many in the group chats were agreeing that they'd vote for Iris as prom queen if she started dating Scott again. </p><p>"We'll see about that," the Captain of the cheerleaders commented under her breath.</p><p>Just when she was about to switch off her phone, a text message from an unsaved number popped up.</p><p>
  <b> <em>She goes dormant in June.</em> </b>
</p><p>Iris blinked at the odd sentence on her phone screen, but after a couple of seconds she understood what it meant. </p><p>The most popular variety of <em> irises </em> was dormant in June. Iris had learned that the hard way: she could never get her namesake flowers as a gift for her birthday, on June 24, because they weren't in season. It was too corny to receive irises any other time of the year…So she'd never received any. </p><p><b> <em>He doesn't actually hibernate,</em> </b> Iris sent back her own cryptic sentence with slightly shaky fingers.</p><p>That was a surprising fact her younger self had learned about bears from her then best friend. From a young age, Barry had known a ridiculous amount of trivia about these animals because his mom often called him 'Bear', a pet name Iris had found very cool then. </p><p>Iris still remembered some of those fun facts: there were multiple species of bears, four of them belonging to the genus <em> Ursus </em>, the latin word for bear. And indeed, bears didn't hibernate during the winter like everyone thought. Instead, they went into torpor, a state similar but distinct to hibernation. </p><p>"Yet I barely passed intro to biology," she lamented with a disappointed shake of her head. "Should've asked Barry to tutor me on that one too." </p><p><b> <em>Hello Iris,</em> </b> Barry wrote next, and Iris could hear his shy voice as if he was sitting right there at her desk.</p><p>He had a smooth baritone voice now, she'd found out when he'd tutored her for pre-calc. </p><p>Iris wondered if he still liked singing. Nora Allen had been a great singer herself, just like Iris' parents Joe and Francine. Iris and Henry Allen had been the black sheep of their Christmas carols group, but they'd compensated for their lack of musical talent by being great bakers—or rather, Henry had been a great baker and Iris had been his very enthusiastic assistant who excelled at taste-testing.</p><p><b> <em>Hey Barry</em></b>, she replied as she flopped on her bed, relief mixed up with nostalgia making her sigh from a place deep in her chest.</p><p>Hours ago at the lockers, Iris had combined two codes to write down a message to Barry: her phone number in Morse code followed by 'TXT ME' in the written version of the five by five Tap code.</p><p>Like Iris had hoped, Barry had belatedly understood her jab at math looking like a weird <em> code </em> once he had spotted her <em> coded message </em> on the piece of paper she'd slipped into his math textbook. And of course he still remembered how to read both the Morse and Tap codes.</p><p>Iris's dad had taken some of his precious free time to teach them the Morse code after Barry had seen it on a MacGyver episode. </p><p>Iris had only retained the Morse code numbers, but fortunately she'd remembered how to write letters from the Tap code that Barry's own dad had taught them in turn.</p><p><b> <em>You remembered</em></b>, was coincidentally what Barry said next. </p><p>Iris almost let out a sweet 'aww', and <em> that </em> put her on high alert.</p><p>"Put yourself together, Iris Ann," she scolded herself.</p><p>The past was <em> the past</em>. This was the present, and she had to secure her future: getting elected prom queen and hopefully being granted a full scholarship to attend CCU.</p><p>Things were actually going according to her plan, so she better not let <em> sentiment </em> jeopardize her important mission to earn back her royal status.</p><p><b> <em>Sorry about last week,</em> </b> Barry posted a minute later.</p><p>That made Iris righteously angry, not at him but at <em> Tony </em>for being such an asshole.</p><p>When she actually thought about it, Woodward hadn't been minding his own business <em> either</em>. He'd crossed the hall just to bully Barry, who'd been peacefully nerding out with Cisco Ramon about some long-awaited topic Professor Wells would bring up in their advanced physics class.</p><p>(It's not that Iris had been paying attention to them or anything. They two were right next to her locker being mildly loud and goofy between first and second period, so of course she'd heard them!)</p><p><b> <em>It's alright, my demotion will be revoked eventually,</em> </b> Iris lied smoothly.</p><p>
  <b> <em>Demotion???</em> </b>
</p><p>
  <b> <em>So the rumors are true?!</em> </b>
</p><p>
  <b> <em>I didn't believe them, I thought for sure that you were too cool to be demoted from your princess status.</em> </b>
</p><p>
  <b> <em>You deserve a promotion to warrior princess instead, that left hook feint and cross combo was so badass!</em> </b>
</p><p>Iris blinked at the rapidly fired texts, then chuckled at the long period of silence that followed. Allen was probably blushing in embarrassment right now after realizing how star-struck he'd sounded.</p><p>
  <b> <em>Sorry.</em> </b>
</p><p>She didn't mind. Actually, his <em> accurate </em> commentary about her boxing skills reassured her that the next stage of her plan could work.</p><p><b> <em>It's okay,</em> </b> she managed to reply before he said the exact words she'd been hoping to see.</p><p>
  <b> <em>Is there anything I can do to help?</em> </b>
</p><p>Iris felt bad, she really did. This was going <em> too smoothly </em> because Barry was a good person and she knew it. He'd always wanted to help others even though he'd been quite hopeless when it came to helping himself from bullies. Iris had been there for him back then, so it hadn't mattered.</p><p>If she let him believe that she could be there for him <em> now </em> as well…</p><p>She couldn't tell him about the token, obviously. She had to present a good reason to get close to him and have things happen <em> organically, </em>but quickly enough for her to redeem her token before she could start her campaign for the prom queen election.</p><p><b> <em>Actually, I think that I'm the one who should help you around this time, </em> </b>she proposed.</p><p><b> <em>This time?</em> </b> He repeated, clearly confused.</p><p><b> <em>You helped me pass pre-calc,</em> </b> she reminded him.</p><p>A pause. Ellipses.</p><p><b> <em>You passed that class on your own, Iris,</em> </b> he objected. <b> <em>I only helped you solidify the knowledge you already had.</em> </b></p><p>That was very sweet of him to say considering that he had the proof on paper that she didn't remember much from that course.</p><p><b> <em>You're very smart, Iris West,</em> </b> Barry added after a pause. <b> <em>Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.</em> </b></p><p><b> <em>And you're very strong, Barry Allen, </em> </b> she told him back, hoping that her words carried the conviction she was trying to convey. <b> <em>I want you and others to realize it too.</em> </b></p><p>Silence. Ellipses. Silence. Ellipses.</p><p>
  <b> <em>How?</em> </b>
</p><p>"Thank fuck," the future prom queen of CC High exhaled before she smiled at the successful first stage of her plan.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Kudos and comments are always appreciated!</p><p>How soon do you think Iris' plan will get off rails 🤣 I feel bad for her and I'm the one putting her in this mess in the first place.</p><p>Next update on Sunday!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Busted</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Iris gets second thoughts about the token after she feels herself reconnecting with Barry.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>As promised! It might be Monday already for some of you, apologies.<br/>It was time I gave more dimensions to Becky Cooper, and to reveal the first plot twist of the story 😎</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>Iris hadn't formally practiced boxing since freshman year, but she occasionally shadow boxed or hit the punching bag at the school's gym, when practice with the girls was light or at the very beginning of the off season when everyone skipped practice altogether and it was just Iris and Miss Sans Soucis spending an hour brainstorming new routines and training schedules.</p><p>Obviously Iris couldn't train Barry on school grounds, so she invited him to the garage of her parents' house at times they were guaranteed to be undisturbed. That first afternoon, Iris dad was still at the police station and her mom was working from home but seemed busy enough that she wouldn’t leave her office for a while.</p><p>Iris felt as nervous as Barry looked when he arrived an hour after Iris had herself returned from school.</p><p>She didn't know where Allen lived now, but it was clearly not in the neighborhood anymore. She briefly pondered if he’d been back in the area since returning to Central City.</p><p>After offering him something to drink—he was fine with just water—Iris went straight to business with warm up stretches and a little rope skipping. Then she put him through a few footwork drills and beginner shadow boxing.</p><p>“I think…ow! I’m pretty sure that I’ve torn my calcaneal tendon,” Barry whined an hour later as he gingerly sat on the bench, six feet of sweaty and breathless mess.</p><p>To be honest, he’d done better than Iris had expected of him. The fact that she was half as sweaty as him and started to feel some muscle strain proved that she’d pushed him harder than she’d initially planned, and that was exactly because he wasn’t the wimp he appeared to be.</p><p>Also, Barry wasn’t <em> that </em> skinny. There was lean muscle mass on his long bones, which made the cheerleader wonder what he’d been up to in the years of his absence from Central City.</p><p>She probably shouldn't ask, but…</p><p>"You've got the stamina of someone who exercises regularly," she pointed out casually after she hung their gloves then started rolling her shoulders. She beckoned him to stand up so they could cool down.</p><p>"Oh, I just run a lot," he explained as he started mimicking Iris' static poses.</p><p>"You do? That's great," she complimented. "Have you ever thought of joining the track and field club?" She asked him as she went down low in a standing figure four stretch. "You don't have to compete, you know...what?"</p><p>He was gaping at her. </p><p>"I can't do that, Iris," he asserted with a vigorous head shake before waving his hand hesitatingly to encompass her body. "The way you move is so…I mean I <em> know </em> that all the laws of physics still apply to you, but it's like you command them to work for you instead of submitting to their authority like the rest of us, you know? And you make it look so effortless and fun—"</p><p>His face froze for a second before it got redder than during the training, and Iris couldn't help giggling.</p><p>"Sorry," he apologized in a bit of a panic, rubbing the back of his head and trying to look everywhere else but in her direction.</p><p>(That allowed <em> her </em> to admire his arm muscles, and since when did <em>runners</em> have nice triceps like that?)</p><p>"I didn't know that nerds…I mean, <em> smart guys </em>like you watched my team practice," she commented, a mischievous smirk making its way on her lips.</p><p>Oh, that deer in the headlights look of his was still so <em> cute </em>, Iris had almost forgotten how expressive his pretty green eyes were! And Iris was totally jealous of his eyelashes.</p><p>"It's not—it wasn't to ogle you or anything, I watched you practice for an entire quarter last year," he specified before he blushed impossibly harder. "I mean! We had to describe the fundamental principles of physics of a specific sport, and everyone was picking basketball and football but there are already plenty of books and films made about those, whereas you guys—I mean girls, um <em> ladies </em>? There's so much going on in cheer, all the tumbling and stunts on top of the dancing…Well, anyways."</p><p>Iris had never smiled so big outside of the field.</p><p>Not many people who weren't in the discipline appreciated its physicality, most took it as minor entertainment during football games.</p><p>Cheer was a very dynamic sport, new moves and rules were incorporated almost every year and other schools also had coed teams, which were on a whole other level.</p><p>Iris was wondering if Barry had picked it for his assignment only because of the wide array of movements, or if…If it was because it was the sport that <em> she </em> practiced. </p><p>"Got an A for your assignment, I bet," she guessed.</p><p>"Professor Wells was actually impressed, yeah," Barry confirmed with a proud smile. "Cheer <em> is </em> impressive. Of course I already knew that you're athletic, with boxing and all that, but yeah, what you do is with the cheerleading team is really cool, Iris. I'm…I'm really sorry that helping me cost you your popularity. You deserve to be on top, the way you are on the cheerleading pyramid."</p><p>"That's so nice of you to say, Barry," Iris replied quietly, emotion bubbling in her chest.</p><p>Of course her girls respected her, and Miss Sans Soucis always praised her for her hard work and creativity when she came up with new moves for the choreography or when she suggested ways to make stunts safer or more spectacular. Even the guys from the basketball and football teams showed their support to her team at every competition event, Tony included. And Linda always whined about Iris making her look like an inferior human being with the way she could use muscles that the average person neglected.</p><p>But Iris' parents <em> weren't </em> that supportive of her extracurricular activities. Her dad had been very disappointed that she'd quit boxing (she hadn't! She still practiced!) even though there was no competition that could help Iris make him proud of her progress. And Iris' mom couldn't get past the skimpy uniform of the cheerleading team, saying that it was normalizing the objectification of girls in schools. Neither Joe or Francine West had attended a single competition event, and of course both of them were busy, being a cop and a lawyer, but Iris knew that they didn't think very highly of her life choices—they'd barely accepted her decision to go into journalism.</p><p>This was the main reason why Iris wanted to get a scholarship: to impress her parents. They could pay for her college tuition, of course, but her getting a scholarship would prove to them that she wasn't as negligent of her academic life as they thought. Iris knew that getting elected prom queen would definitely help regain her mother’s respect, but that wouldn’t work as well with her dad.</p><p>So, having someone else praise Iris’ efforts so passionately—no, not just someone else, this was <em>Barry Allen</em> being sincerely impressed by her, after he'd called her smart two nights ago—really touched her. </p><p>Iris had forgotten how her childhood best friend had the gift to boost her self-esteem even when it was already quite high. Linda was great, Iris would've lost herself in the fake life she lived at school if her no-nonsense bestie hadn't kept her grounded and true to her own values and morals. Linda was a true leader, being part of the student council, making a real impact on the life of other students, and she never missed to remind Iris that Iris herself was often the one bringing up problems that needed to be addressed by the student council. The newspaper did bring up some of these issues in a more official fashion, of course, but Scott and the other writers of the school newspaper were so objective and dry in their reporting approach, i.e. arguing that the school should improve the quality of the food at the cafeteria because it affects the student's health, but not mentioning how some kids didn't have the option of home-cooked meals so depended on the cafeteria to eat, or how enjoying good food with peers helped strengthen social bonds or even how the nasty attitude of some kitchen employees just made the food taste bitter no matter if it was well seasoned or not.</p><p>So yeah, Linda <em> was </em> amazing, but Barry was just <em> uplifting </em> in a way no one else had been in Iris' life.</p><p><em> And I accepted Becky's challenge to humiliate him, </em> Iris realized with horror.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>“Picking another token? Are you kidding me Iris?” was Becky’s reply to her request to change the token.</p><p>They were in one of the old rooms used for detention, which Becky and her clique had repurposed for their tea party club.</p><p>At least Becky had made her followers leave the room to grant them some privacy. It was the fifth day since Iris had picked the challenge, and all the popular kids outside of the royal family were getting curious about it.</p><p>“Barry and I used to be friends,” Iris decided to be upfront, “so it’s really awkward for me to do that to him. If my parents heard about this, they’d kill me.”</p><p>“Wouldn’t they be proud of you, instead?” Becky countered after sipping on whatever fancy tea she was drinking from an even fancier china tea cup. “Allen’s father is a criminal—”</p><p>“Henry <em>didn’t</em> kill Nora,” Iris corrected her firmly. “Barry witnessed the murder himself, and he saw another man, it wasn’t his father…”</p><p>“A little boy’s wishful thinking doesn’t hold in court against a shitload of evidence, West,” Cooper argued with a smirk. “Your mom is a D.A., you should know that better than me. Anyways, there’s no going back on the token. Either you do it, or you forfeit your chance to get back into the royal family.”</p><p>“I can’t do that to Barry,” Iris argued weakly.</p><p>“You say that like it would be such a terrible experience for him,” Becky commented with a snort. “How many losers like him can boast losing their virginity to the prom queen, huh?”</p><p>“What?” Iris reacted, shocked.</p><p>“Come on, Iris, everyone knows that you want to be queen just like me,” Becky stated arrogantly. “You might have actually won the homecoming election if you hadn’t wasted so much energy with fundraisers and of course the cheer competition. But if you redeem your token, I’ll help you with your campaign.”</p><p>“What’s in it for you?” Iris immediately asked, doubtful that Becky Cooper, the baddest bitch in CC High, would help anyone with anything without having her own interests in mind.</p><p>“Would you rather Izzy Bowin get the crown?” Becky asked back. “She would have the votes of the entire orchestra, and she’s a 4.0 so I’m sure that she’d racked quite a few votes from the good students and maybe a few nerds…”</p><p>“I’d lose the votes of the nerds by humiliating Barry,” Iris argued, but then she countered her own reasoning, “but they have a history of boycotting the elections anyways. Not one of them voted for homecoming.”</p><p>“See, this is what makes you better than the other candidates, West,” Becky actually complimented her. “You <em> know </em> this school, not just the students but the teachers and the staff and you know what they want. If Scott wasn’t such a show off I’d advise you to get back with him, it would give you the votes of all the idiots who still want you two to be the power couple of CC High—”</p><p>“Not happening,” Iris announced firmly. “Scott can go and fuck himself, since he loves himself so much,” she added for good measure because she realized that she’d been a bit too subdue in this exchange.</p><p>The eyebrow that Becky lifted as she took another sip of her tea told Iris that she’d noticed her attempt to appear more assertive.</p><p>“Oh, I’m totally with you on that, girl,” Becky assured her. “I remember Miss Harper praising your writing last quarter, she kept gushing about you acing some college-level writing class, nonfiction writing or something? She said that you’d be an amazing reporter. And Kamilla told me that Scott threw you under the bus when you and him postulated for the position of editor for the school newspaper. What a dick, but that only shows that he’s one of us, however special he’d like to believe he is. That’s another reason why you should be queen: to show that you didn’t need him to get to the top. You’d earn the crown for your own individual glory, not to add to his.”</p><p>Iris blinked. She didn’t know that Becky knew that much about her. Yes, they’d taken a few classes together, but Iris hadn’t known that the self-absorbed Becky Cooper paid her any attention.</p><p>“I’ll help you win the prom election <em> effortlessly </em>,” Becky promised. “All you’ll have to do is show your pretty face to the masses for the speech I know you’ll deliver with eloquence and passion. But you have to pay the proper price to sit on the throne with me, West.”</p><p>“The proper price,” Iris repeated flatly.</p><p>“You think that I don’t see through your little act, Miss Sunshine?” the homecoming queen asked with a glare as she put down her tea cup a bit forcefully on its saucer, making Iris take a step back.</p><p>“You irradiate <em> goodness </em> , and I can’t believe that you made it that far on the social ladder,” Becky admitted. “I couldn’t try and tell the others that you’re a fraud because they’d assume that I’m jealous of you. <em> I’m no </em> t. I’m genuinely <em> impressed </em> by your commitment to act contrary to your nature.”</p><p>“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, Cooper,” Iris argued as she propped her fists on her hips.</p><p>“I don’t fucking care why you’re pretending to be a bad bitch, Iris,” Becky reassured her with a shrug, “all I ask is that you go <em> all the way </em>, in both senses of the term.”</p><p>Iris felt her heart rate pick up as she outwardly remained impassive at the other girl’s accusation.</p><p>Becky chuckled, then slowly poured herself more tea, meticulously added some sugar and mixed it with a golden spoon without making any noise until she tapped the excess liquid off of the spoon.</p><p>“I slept with Eddie Thawne, more than once,” Becky told Iris.</p><p>Iris knew that, everyone among the popular kids knew, and it wasn’t a big deal. Iris and Eddie had never become a couple. They'd had one fling at some random party, there was no fuss to make about it.</p><p>Unless…</p><p>“He admitted that you two never slept together,” Becky informed her as she picked up her cup of tea, pausing to gently blow away the steam coming out of it. “He agreed to go with your story because he was so embarrassed not being able to keep it up long enough to fuck you. Not that he’s impotent or a bad lay, but I can imagine that anyone would be a bit out of their mind having Iris West touching them all over. You look <em> amazing </em>, girl. Not only are you unfairly pretty, but that cheerleader body of yours…Evans must be mad that he missed out on that, right?”</p><p><em> Shit, shit, shit, </em> Iris cursed in her head just as Becky chuckled again.</p><p>“Really, you should be grateful that I gave you such an easy target,” the queen stated sternly. “You can do that trick you did Eddie with Allen too, that was your initial plan, wasn't it? Don't get cold feet on me now. And really, Allen would be grateful that you’d let him brag about sleeping with you.”</p><p>No, he wouldn’t! He'd feel betrayed, after how well they were getting along now.</p><p>They'd texted each other every day since that first evening, and they were due for another boxing practice in a couple of hours. </p><p>“And you’ll finally earn this reputation of tough chick you’ve accumulated over the years by being nothing but a goodie two shoes who doesn’t even drink at parties,” Becky added with a bit more venom. “I get that your father is a cop, but damn it, West. You’ve fooled everyone with such a lousy act. I respect you for that, but you’re not getting a crown on <em>my watch</em> without doing one true bad deed.”</p><p>Iris felt anger rise in her throat, but she couldn’t let it out.</p><p>Becky could still call her out on being a fraud right now, then Iris would completely lose her chance of becoming the prom queen.</p><p>“What about the proof?” she asked instead, as calmly as she could. “The proof of me taking Barry’s virginity?”</p><p>“I’ll claim that I checked and will validate it, don’t worry,” Becky assured her. “No one would doubt my words because I've <em>earned</em> my crown. Of course, if you <em> do </em> take Barry’s virginity, feel free to share your accomplishment, darling. Then I promise to never divulge your secret with Eddie, not even for fun at some school reunion ten years from now.”</p><p>Oh God, that would be even more embarrassing than it would be now, wouldn’t it? And Iris couldn’t skip the school reunions now, she had to attend them all to make sure that Becky didn’t spill her secret in her absence.</p><p>“No video, that could go so very wrong,” Becky discouraged her. “An audio recording, or what did you have in mind?"</p><p>"Yeah a recording," Iris confirmed quietly.</p><p>"Just for my ears, you can delete it after I hear it," Becky promised. "Unless you’re quiet during sex, then there would be no point.”</p><p>“Okay,” Iris agreed. “I’ll sleep with Barry and get a recording. But you have to promise to never mention anything about all of this. Not just Eddie, but <em>everything</em> that you know about me. Swear it, Becky, or God help me, I’ll turn into a real bitch just to make you pay.”</p><p>“Deal,” Becky simply replied before taking a long sip of her tea, her dismissal clear.</p><p>Iris couldn’t even feel humiliated, she had no right to claim a wound to her pride.</p><p>Not when she was going to do so much worse to Barry’s.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Kudos and comments are always appreciated!</p><p>I know that a few of you are going to be a bit frustrated about Iris' decision, that's totally intentional so feel free to scream at me 😜 What would be the point of a high school AU if there was no dumb decisions made, tell me?!🙃</p><p>EDIT: The next chapter will be posted on Tuesday! Thank you so much for the comments so far ❤️</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Conspiracy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Iris asks Linda for help, then accidentally overhears something that changes everything about her token.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Warning for a little angst at the end of the chapter! I've updated the tags because there will be more angst in the future. What happened to the mindless high school drama AU I started with 😭😭😭 This fic might be the first part of a longer story, even. One day I'll learn to stick to my original outline🙈</p><p>This chapter and the next will be longer than the others (if you haven't noticed, I changed the chapter count to 7!) and contains other plot twist(s). I'm taking so many liberties with this fic! This is almost G̶o̶s̶s̶i̶p̶ ̶G̶i̶r̶l̶ Cruel Intentions level of scheming at this point. I hope that you'll enjoy!</p><p>Oh, by the way, here comes Linda 🤗</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p><em> Linda! </em> Iris called in her head as she power walked from the basement on the east wing of the building to the third floor on the south wing.</p><p>Iris was aware now that she'd made her deal with Becky in a state of panic, confusion and anger. She should’ve kept her mouth shut and gotten back to the queen of bitches the next day or something.</p><p>You know who else should’ve kept their mouth shut? Eddie Thawne.</p><p>Iris was oh so tempted to go all crazy bitch on Thawne, who was popular but not a royal unless Becky decided to elevate his status. Until then, Iris had all the rights to step on him with her four inches or at least shove him in a locker, Tony Woodward style.</p><p><em> Speaking of Thawne and bullies, </em> Iris thought as she saw baseball players crowd a couple of nerd-looking kids who’d been looking at trophies, medals and certificates on the CC High hall of fame for academic achievements.</p><p>Iris didn’t slow down as she walked by the group, not even when the player holding one of the nerds’ shirt collar threw a quick “What’s the rush, princess?” </p><p>Elliott Simmons, pitcher. Not the team captain, that was Eddie, so Iris could get away with humiliating him later without a problem. </p><p>That's all Iris could do for the weak and the oppressed of CC High: <em> avenge </em> them later. </p><p>People thought that Iris West intimidated other students just to assert her dominance as royalty, but really she targeted the assholes and petty bitches who directly or indirectly ruined other students' lives.</p><p>No one had noticed her pattern in four years, or so Iris had thought. <em> Becky Cooper </em> had noticed.</p><p><em> Why's the queen so much smarter than the king, </em> Iris lamented as she arrived at the conference room that the student council used for their meetings.</p><p>There were still a few people chatting outside the double doors, so Iris walked right in.</p><p>“Linda,” she called out calmly as she made her way around the fancy octagonal ring that serves as a conference table, her heels clacking meanly on the linoleum floor.</p><p>She didn't pay attention to the students who groaned in complaint before standing from their seats and leaving the room without even needing Iris’ instruction.</p><p><em>That</em> never got old. It was during moments of pure <em>girl power</em> like this that Iris thought that all the lying and faking was worth it, even more than knowing that she imparted her own kind of justice on school grounds.</p><p>The two students who had been speaking to Linda when Iris walked in stubbornly remained seated, and one of them even glared at Iris.</p><p>“Our meeting starts in ten minutes,” he informed her. “Come back in an hour, West.”</p><p>Instead of acknowledging his existence, Iris stared at Linda, raising an eyebrow at her.</p><p>Linda raised both of her eyebrows in response.</p><p>“I won’t take too much of your time, President,” she promised her best friend with fake formality as she pointedly looked at the chair the other student was occupying directly to Linda's left. “Thank you.”</p><p>Linda gently tapped the guy’s shoulder and he huffed before standing up and grunting “let’s go” to his peer.</p><p>“Not even thirty minutes ago I was wondering why I allowed you, a secret social justice warrior, to fake your way into the royal family,” Linda said as Iris lowered herself on the chair only after the last of the other students had left and closed the door behind them. “But I got to admit, it’s really cool to witness how much power my best friend holds in this school. Girl, you emptied a room without having to<em> ask. </em>I feel like bending the knee to you and swearing fealty and offerings of brownies.”</p><p>“Pretty sure that you’re the one who got the last two to leave,” Iris pointed out with fake poise as she crossed her legs and draped her arms over the armrests.</p><p>“Yeah, okay, we’re <em>both</em> powerful,” Linda agreed. “And it’s a good thing. We will leave CC High better than we found it, <em> your highness </em>. All that's left to finish high school with a bang is for you to get elected prom queen. You won't have any cheer competition or game taking your time and energy away from your campaign this time, so I'm confident that you'll get your crown.”</p><p>“Maybe I don’t want the crown after all,” Iris replied as she looked at her press-on nails. “I didn’t need one to knock down the homecoming king.”</p><p>“Try again, Iris Ann West,” her best friend demanded flatly, fixing her an unimpressed look. “Without the bad bitch accent this time.”</p><p>“I <em> messed up, </em> okay?” Iris whined as she slouched down and leaned over the table to grab Linda’s hands. “<em>Please </em> help me.”</p><p>“All the help I can give you is listen and give you the best advice I can, you know that,” Linda pointed out. “I’m not getting involved in your popular kids drama.”</p><p>Iris nodded vigorously then told her best friend everything, which ate up six of the ten minutes.</p><p>“Yeah you shouldn’t have promised anything to Cooper,” Linda critiqued. “If Thawne told her the truth, he might feel free to tell others now. So Becky has no authority over that secret.”</p><p>“I’m<em> so </em>dumb,” Iris commented as she bumped her forehead against the table.</p><p>“Wait, why am I only hearing about you talking to <em>and </em> training with Barry Allen now?” Linda questioned with a deep frown as she took away her hands from Iris’ gentle grip. “You contacted him on <em> Monday</em>, it’s <em> Friday</em>. Is my best friend status at risk here? I won’t go down without a fight.”</p><p>“Don’t be dramatic Linda, my life is dramatic enough for the two of us already,” Iris teased her. “But come on, tell me what to do. I <em> need </em> the crown. Without it my mother might never respect me again, and my already thin chance of getting a scholarship will die for real. I can’t just throw away four years of hard work in the waters…”</p><p>“Hurting your former best friend like that would make you more than a bad bitch, Iris,” Linda pointed out calmly. “It would make you an <em> evil </em> bitch. Like, isn’t his birthday coming up? You can't have him start his adult life with a high school humiliation of this scale.”</p><p>“Why do you remember Barry's birthday?” Iris asked as she dropped her head into her hands at the realization that, indeed, March fourteenth was next Wednesday. “You two never even talked back then.”</p><p>"I know a lot of things about Allen despite myself because <em> you </em> wouldn't shut up about him for the first year after we finally became friends long after he left town," Linda reminded her. "Living in the shadows of <em>your</em> white shadow was hard work, West, so I'm not giving my best friend title back. With that said, don't act like your reputation as a royal is more important to you than Allen is. Let's figure something that doesn't end with you ruining the <em>non-best</em> friendship you've gained back. By the way, gotta give credit to Becky Cooper for figuring out that all your bad deeds were a cover for good ones. Even I wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't told me, and I'm your best friend. She must be lowkey obsessed with you."</p><p>"Yeah, I tried so hard to make my actions look random, but I guess they weren't." </p><p><em> Gotta make sure that Becky doesn’t know about Simmons, </em> Iris decided as the bell rang for the third period.</p><p>"I have a meeting to lead, Miss Sunshine," Linda reminded her, "but I'll see you at lunch, at your ridiculous secret spot?"</p><p>"'Miss Sunshine'?" Iris repeated as she stood from the seat at the same time as the other members of the council filed into the room.</p><p>"What, you don't remember that nickname?" Linda asked, but her attention quickly shifted to the agenda written on the whiteboard, so Iris left her to it.</p><p><em> Miss Sunshine </em>, Iris echoed in her head.</p><p>Becky Cooper had actually called her that earlier. In the middle of her panic Iris hadn't noted that it was <em>very odd</em> of the homecoming queen to use Iris' nickname from CC junior high school, since Becky herself came from North Central Middle School.</p><p>Scott had been the first person to nickname Iris 'Miss Sunshine'. It hadn't actually been a term of endearment, it was a name he'd call her when he was frustrated with her whenever he judged that she was being 'too nice'. Linda was the only other person to ever call Iris by that nickname too, though <em> she </em> used it as a pet name. </p><p>So either Becky had come up with the same nickname by pure coincidence because she also thought that Iris was too nice…<em> Or </em> Becky and Scott had been talking about her lately.</p><p>"No way," Iris whispered to herself as she pulled out her cell phone and checked the group chats she’d been stalking regularly to see if the school had caught up with her demotion and her taking a token to get her status back.</p><p>Maybe some of Scott and Iris’ fans from CC High had taken to calling Iris 'Miss Sunshine' too? So Becky might have heard them talk about Iris in the hallways at school or she had read the nickname in some group chat dominated by alumni of CCJHS (Iris was convinced that Becky stalked multiple group chats anonymously just like her to stay on top of everything happening on school grounds).</p><p>"Huh," Iris reacted when she saw that there still weren’t rumors circulating about her token. </p><p><em> That's so odd, </em>Iris reflected, frowning at her phone screen.</p><p>Scott had known about the token since Monday, and Iris wasn’t naive enough to believe that he’d wait to find out about it at the very last minute. He'd been curious enough about it to show up at Iris' locker. He should've sent his lackeys to investigate, which means that by now the grapevine should be all about Iris and her mission to return into the royal family. But there was nothing.</p><p><em> Maybe Scott directly asked Becky that same day, </em> Iris speculated, her mind spinning. <em>Or he already knew and just showed up at my locker to see how weirded out I was about the whole thing.</em></p><p>And why not? Scott was part of the royal family, and though the rules held Becky to secrecy about the challenge she’d written, who said that Scott hadn’t blackmailed her with some dirt he’d found out about her? Of course, Becky wore her misdeeds like precious stones on her crown, so Iris had always assumed that she could never be blackmailed.</p><p>But truly, was <em> anyone </em> without a secret they didn’t want revealed? Iris herself was freaking out about being ousted as a fraud among the popular kids. So maybe queen Rebecca had her weakness too.</p><p><em> Only one way to find out, </em> Iris decided as she carefully made her way downstairs, watching out for any teacher who would catch her wandering. </p><p>Like most seniors, Iris was supposed to spend the next hour of the study period figuring out the next steps of her life.</p><p>Iris already knew what she wanted to do. She’d applied to CCU, KCU and Twin Cities Junior College and her letters of acceptance were due any day now. Worst case scenario only TCJC would take her, and she could still use her first year of college there to build a more solid application for CCU, which had the best education program for journalism in the state, and from where students were more likely to get an internship at big newspapers like CCPN. </p><p>But Iris had met with academic advisors at all three institutions last summer, and all of them had been confident that she would be accepted.</p><p>Iris tried not to be bitter about the fact that Scott was basically guaranteed to get into CCU: he was a good student, not a 4.0 but pretty close; he was the chief editor of the school newspaper; and unless he’d quit, he worked part-time as a newspaper delivery guy. Really, what else did he need to do to prove himself? Plus, with his self-confidence and his poise, he already looked like a college student, it wouldn’t be hard for him to belong in CCU.</p><p>It was by sheer luck that Iris recognized Simmons’ voice before she could distractingly round the corner of the hallway leading to the newsroom.</p><p>“I thought for sure that she was headed here, man,” the baseball player said. “Why are you not making a move, Scott? She clearly isn’t over you, otherwise she’d have a new boyfriend by now. She’s waiting for her prince charming to take her to his castle and crown her his queen. See what I did there?”</p><p>“You’re not funny,” Scott’s deep and smooth voice commented flatly.</p><p>He was no singer, but Iris had always liked his voice. It sounded so mature and complemented his put together appearance.</p><p>“Everyone knows that she’s going to campaign for prom queen,” Simmons pointed out. “And seriously, you yourself don’t even need to campaign to get elected king. Just sign up, hahaha.”</p><p>“Are you here with any useful piece of information to share or are you here to waste my time?” Scott questioned, sounding mildly irritated. “I have articles to proofread.”</p><p>“Oh, yeah, I wanted to give you heads up about a scoop you don’t want to miss!” Simmons replied enthusiastically. “Heard from one of the gorillas that the uncrowned squirrel is up for a beating this afternoon. Secondary parking lot around four.”</p><p>Iris pasted a hand to her mouth to silence her gasp of shock.</p><p>‘Gorillas’ was the derogatory nickname of the basketball players.</p><p>Who was that uncrowned squirrel they were supposed to beat up?</p><p>Uncrowned, as in a king or a queen, right? And squirrel was the code for which group? The climbers?</p><p><em> No, the nerds, </em> Iris remembered, she had all the codenames jotted down in her notepad. <em>The nerds use the codename owls between themselves, but the athletes call them squirrels because owls are too cool or something, can't recall.</em></p><p>So, the target of the beat up was the uncrowned king of the nerds.</p><p><em> Barry!  </em>Jesus, could he catch a break?</p><p>“The hell? Why would they do that?” Scott asked, sounding more surprised than Iris had ever heard him be—maybe second to when she’d told him that it was over between them. “Allen’s being taken care of already!” The name drop confirmed Iris’ guess, but she couldn’t even celebrate her solving skills.</p><p><em> Come again? </em> Iris exclaimed internally when she processed her ex’s words.</p><p>“Really? Oh that’s good to know, man,” Simmons replied. “Since that story between Woodward and West broke out, the nerds have been acting like they too might accidentally get rescued by your ex. She’s a fierce one, our cheerleader princess, but I’m sure that she doesn’t care about any of their losers' asses.”</p><p>“Allen was a one time thing, believe me,” Scott assured the athlete. “But thanks for the heads up, man. I might get a good picture, who knows.”</p><p>The two guys chuckled before Simmons announced that he had to run back to class because his homeroom teacher was a no-lifer.</p><p>Iris stood there for maybe five minutes, almost jumping out of her skin when Kamilla called out her name.</p><p>“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you!” the photographer princess apologized, thankfully in a hushed voice. “Were you coming to see me? About your campaign? Do you want to start next week or wait for Bowin and Chaytan to show their cards? Stacy and I were thinking about the colors we could use for your flyer yesterday, and of course we need to figure out a slogan. Something dramatic but unique, not those overused catch phrases everyone uses. Maybe we can make it sound like a cheer call?”</p><p>“Let me get back to you on that,” Iris requested with a forced smile. “Oh, and don’t tell Scott that you saw me, okay?”</p><p>“I try not to breathe the same air as him if I can help it,” Kamilla informed her with a humorless laugh. “How’s your token going? We miss you at lunch, Iris…”</p><p>“Ask me again tonight, I might have an answer,” Iris promised before she took out her cell phone and walked away.</p><p><b> <em>Where are you?</em> </b> She texted Barry.</p><p>She was relieved that he replied within the same minute.</p><p><b> <em>Library in the group study area, why? Is everything okay???</em> </b> He asked back, clearly worried.</p><p><b> <em>Are you tutoring anyone? </em> </b>She asked instead of answering.</p><p><b> <em>No, just hanging out with the others, </em> </b>he let her know.</p><p>Damn it, there would be witnesses to their meeting. But if they were other nerds, maybe Barry could get them not to say a word.</p><p>What was Iris going to do, though? There was definitely a conspiracy against him going on. The token was very likely part of it, so Iris couldn't just blurt everything to Barry.</p><p>Why not? And why stop to telling the whole truth to just Barry?</p><p><em>Linda was talking about making history, </em>Iris thought ruefully. <em>Making the news is part of it, right?</em> <em>I'm so going to anonymously send a full exposé to CCPN about the dangers of the rigid social hierarchy in high school, </em>after <em>I expose all of the royal family to the rest of the school. Our class will be remembered as the most dramatic class of CC High.</em></p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“I <em>told you</em> that Bradley would retaliate,” Cisco was actually the only one to react to Iris’ news with the proper panic. Actually, he sounded a bit pissed.</p><p>Iris frowned at Ramon after her eyes couldn’t quite help taking in all the nerds gathered around two big tables pushed together so they could play some game…Alright, <em> okay </em> , Iris recognized Dragons and Dungeons. <em>Everyone</em> knew that game, it was basic pop culture. </p><p><em> I’m definitely in the wrong place, though, </em> she thought wryly.</p><p>“Who’s Bradley?” one of the Palmer twins asked his brother absent-mindedly as he rolled a red die between his fingers.</p><p>“Some basketball player, were you not paying attention?” the other twin replied with an eye roll. “A basketball player this time, Allen? Who will it be next week, a baseball player?”</p><p><em> Don’t jinx it, </em> Iris pleaded internally, remembering how Simmons was blaming Barry for the implied bolder behavior of the nerds.</p><p>Iris caught Barry, Ramon and Caitlin Snow exchanged glances, and after some silent messages were communicated Snow sighed loudly, clearly frustrated.</p><p>“I’ll just go home early, then,” Barry declared calmly from his chair. “Thank you, Iris,” he added with a nod.</p><p>Was he…Was he <em> dismissing </em> her? Sure, she wasn’t comfortable standing there in the middle of people whose idea of fun was a role playing game—wait, had someone actually drawn that map <em> by hand? </em> More importantly, she needed to tell him about Scott targeting him.</p><p>“Hey, West, is it true that you actually punched Woodward, instead of slapping him?” Chester Runk boldly asked her from his seat next to Caitlin Snow.</p><p>Last year, when Iris had first met Chester almost at the same spot, she'd thought that he was there to be tutored just like her. Instead, she'd found out that he was a<em> tutor</em> like Barry and Cisco. Iris suspected that Runk was a genius too, but he hadn't won any award and his family wasn't rich like the Palmer brothers for Iris to easily find information on him. He really didn't look like a stereotypical nerd.</p><p>To be honest, none of these nerds fit the physical clichés expected of nerds. They all looked great and most had a decent sense of fashion, and none of them even wore glasses. Cisco Ramon had hair that Iris envied because she just knew that it didn’t take him as much time as her to achieve that silky smoothness and shine. The Palmer Twins clearly worked out, and so did the guy sitting on the other side of Snow whose name Iris didn’t know. He, and the shorter blonde who seemed to be an exchange student, even looked like they tanned, like, what the hell.</p><p>And of course there was <em>Barry Allen</em> the uncrowned king, who was really handsome yet cute at the same time, and who hid a really nice body under those sweater vests (maybe that was why he was the designated leader of the group: he actually wore the typical bookworm clothes). Iris still couldn’t believe that all that lean muscle mass came from running alone. Or maybe he was a sprinter?</p><p>“Why are you asking her when I already told you what happened, and I was <em> right there </em> when it happened?” Cisco questioned Chester.</p><p>“Because you have the tendency to embellish stories to a ridiculous level,” the Palmer twin with the red die was the one who answered. “Which is why you’ll never be the DM ever again.”</p><p>The group laughed at Cisco’s responding groan, and now Iris was really feeling like an outsider, so she walked away from the tables without saying goodbye and headed back upstairs.</p><p>“Iris, hey, Iris!” Barry’s hushed voice reached her while she was rushing through stacks of books, and of course with his long legs he caught up to her easily.</p><p>“Thank you for warning me, really,” he reiterated with a sincere but subdued smile, rubbing the back of his neck and shifting his weight from foot to foot. “I’m pretty sure that two sessions of boxing aren’t enough for me to face a whole team of basketball players, so yeah, I’m aware it’s cowardly but—”</p><p>“What? Barry, no, of course it’s not cowardly,” Iris corrected him right away. “I wouldn’t face a whole football team myself, in fact even just two of them might be too much even with the element of surprise. I can fight, but I’m tiny, especially compared to a basketball player. You’ll be so much stronger than me down the line if you keep up with the training, but you shouldn’t risk getting hurt now.”</p><p>Barry was doing very well with his training, actually. His guard was a bit too high even though Iris couldn’t easily reach his face, and he couldn’t keep his leading foot facing straight forward without her reminding him, and of course he sometimes tried to use his feet, but overall he had what it took to be a good boxer. He had the speed and he likely had the punch power with his toned arms but he never hit hard into Iris’ pads because he was scared of hurting her.</p><p>“Just text me after you've left school safely, okay?” Iris requested at a lower volume when she heard movement a few rows ahead. “I have to meet with my team, so we can’t train today, sorry.”</p><p>“You told me yesterday already, yeah,” he recalled with a less controlled smile. “Can I ask you a question?”</p><p>“Sure,” she agreed right away.</p><p>“Shouldn’t you be in class right now, <em> your highness </em>?” he teased her, and she couldn’t completely quiet her giggle.</p><p>“Had to save you first, <em>your majesty</em>,” she teased back with a shrug before she resumed her walk but backward so she could enjoy the surprise on his face. </p><p>He was so cute, it was<em> unfair!</em> How was she supposed not to fall for him?</p><p>“Wait, <em> what? </em>” Iris whispered under the breath that escaped her in a rush, and only her training as a boxer kept her footing steady as her mind whirled around.</p><p>“I asked why you’re calling <em> me </em> majesty,” Barry said, or rather repeated, because he’d been speaking while Iris’ mind had been busy blowing up.</p><p>“Oh, right, you’re nicknamed 'the uncrowned king of the nerds',” she answered him this time, trying to stay calm as her heart knocked against her ribcage like a boxer bouncing against the corner padding while getting rained down with punches.</p><p>“You make it sound like I’m popular,” Barry noted with a tilt of his head.</p><p>“You actually are, Allen,” Iris confirmed when she reached the end of a stack. “Maybe you should campaign to be elected prom king?” she added in levity because he seemed to be catching onto her panic.</p><p><em> I’m supposed to be a better actress than this, </em> she lectured herself. <em> Why is it always harder to fake things with him? No, actually, I don’t wanna know the answer to that. </em></p><p>“Right,” he reacted before laughing, immediately hiding his mouth behind his hand afterwards when he realized that he had been a bit loud—noise was only allowed in the group study area downstairs.</p><p>“See you, Iris,” he said more quietly.</p><p>“Later, Barry,” she replied at an equally low volume, waving for good measure. “Don’t forget to text me when you get home, okay?”</p><p><em> Shit, </em> Iris cursed herself when she saw his face fall a little.</p><p>Of course, the apartment his uncle paid for wasn’t really a home, not like the one he’d had to leave when he was eleven years old because it had turned into a crime scene right in front of him.</p><p>“Yeah,” Barry answered with a valiant smile before he turned around and retreated back downstairs.</p><p>Iris felt her heart panic even more at the sight of him walking away. It had done that a little less conspicuously the two times she’d seen him leave her family's house after boxing practice.</p><p><em> She might develop a fear of abandonment, so you have to make sure that at least one of you is home as often as possible, </em> popped up in Iris' mind as she exited the library.</p><p>Iris started reciting the cheer of the school out loud to prevent herself from diving any deeper into that memory of her eleven year-old-self eavesdropping on her parents and Miss Lewis, the counselor she had talked to regularly for the first three months after Barry had walked away from her with his uncle and aunt-in-law, never to return.</p><p>
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Kudos and comments are always appreciated! I'm so grateful for all the nice comments you've all left, it's fueling my drive to keep the updates coming. </p><p> </p><p>How did you like the nerd gang? Can you name the two guys who have a tan? Of course I had to include Chester!!!!</p><p>The next update will be, you guessed it! On Thursday. I can't wait for your feedback on chapter 5, just like I'm looking forward to your comments on this chapter.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. The Case Of The Ex</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Iris confronts Scott about what he said to Simmons; Barry doesn't text about leaving school safely.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is the chapter I'm the most nervous about, because there isn't much West-Allen (there's some!) and as a die-hard shipper it bothers me when that happens but the moment a plot made its way in my outline, it was inevitable. This story is all in Iris' POV and I cannot get away with closing it without touching upon her relationship with Scott some more. Her relationship with her parents will be next.</p><p>Some of you have expressed a clear dislike for Scott. I never meant to make anyone love him so it's fine, but I just want you to remember that the main characters are teenagers. </p><p>Plot twists ahead. And a cliffhanger 😱 Hope you enjoy!</p><p>(Can't believe that I referenced Beyoncé in the story instead of Mya considering the chapter title.)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>“I knew that you were a self-serving asshole, but I expected you to be above <em> bullying </em>!” Iris almost shouted at Scott when he showed up at the gym during lunch.</p><p>Though she had deleted his number from her phone a long time ago, Iris had easily remembered it, so she’d texted him to come see her during lunch. He'd sounded eager to see her too, for some reason.</p><p>“Hi, Iris, it’s good to see you too,” he replied flatly before extending a brownie square on a disposable plate towards her. “I thought this was a reconciliation meeting.”</p><p>“Reconciliation?” she repeated incredulously, not taking the gift (only because she knew that Linda would give her a piece in less than ten minutes). “For us to reconcile you’ll have to <em> first apologize </em>for siding up with Becky fucking Cooper to hurt my best friend!”</p><p>“What does Linda have to do with anything?” Scott asked, confused.</p><p>“I mean my childhood best friend, <em> Barry Allen! </em>” Iris amended as she propped her fists on her hips and glared at her ex. “I heard you telling Simmons that, and I quote: ‘Allen’s being taken care of already’!”</p><p>Scott managed to mask his shock, but his prolonged silence betrayed it anyways.</p><p>“Are you going to give me a chance to explain myself or did you call me here just to scream at me?” he asked evenly before waving the brownie at her. “And please, Iris, everyone saw me get this brownie…I’d rather be able to say that I gave it to you if anyone asked.”</p><p>“Why, so people can start the rumors that you and I are getting back together?” Iris talked back. “No thanks. You can eat it yourself or throw it away for all I care.”</p><p>Scott blinked, then sighed, rubbing the beard he was so proud of with his free hand.</p><p>“You used to let me get away with anything, and I mean <em> anything </em>, as long as I properly apologized and got you brownies or chocolate cronuts from Jitters,” he recalled. “Back then I had no fucking idea how lucky I was to have the prettiest, loveliest, most selfless girlfriend in the world.”</p><p>
  <em> Huh? </em>
</p><p>“We’re not here to go down memory lane, Scott,” Iris pointed out. “We’re here to talk about you and Becky going out of your way to ruin Barry’s life.”</p><p>“First of all, I’m not doing anything with Cooper,” the aspiring journalist corrected her. “I can ruin anyone’s life on my own.”</p><p>“Do <em> I </em> know that,” Iris commented bitterly, and okay, seeing Scott’s face fall apologetically wasn’t enjoyable. “Becky called me Miss Sunshine this morning,” she added quickly to get back on track, “no one but you and Linda have ever called me that, and I know that Linda has never exchanged a word with Becky. You can't claim that you two haven’t been talking to each other when you learned about the token so quickly!”</p><p>“Simmons' the one who described to me what happened on Monday," Scott explained, "though he himself doesn't realize that you were asking for a token. I've made sure that the news of your demotion didn't spread. I'm sure that you've noticed that everyone but the royals treat you the same. A few students asked me why you weren't sitting with Becky anymore and I told them that you're just trying to get your own popularity outside of the royal family for your prom queen campaign. Told them to jump on the opportunity to get seen with you."</p><p>
  <em>Huh. That explains the offers to sit and the brownies.</em>
</p><p>And now the silence about Iris' taking a token made sense. If Scott could've made it everyone's topic of gossip, he could've made sure that no one actually learned about it.</p><p>"Listen, the last time I said more than hello to Becky was last fall at the homecoming after party,” Scott assured her with a grimace, as if the memory of that time repulsed him. “I’d had one beer too many and got chatty with her when she approached me, which I’m not proud of…Might as well be upfront: we made out a bit and she even proposed to flirt openly in order to make you jealous.”</p><p>“Come again?” Iris reacted, her jaw dropping.</p><p>Scott looked down at the brownie, clearly embarrassed—Iris could even detect his blush, which was a rare sight.</p><p>“I’d heard about you and Thawne, and yeah I was bitter, so,” the newspaper editor admitted with a shrug as he looked up but past Iris. “After the buzz of the alcohol faded though, I realized how insane fooling around with Becky Cooper sounded. There were other girls at that party who I could use to forget you, <em> if </em> I wanted to forget you. Which I <em> didn’t </em>.”</p><p>“What?” Iris whispered.</p><p>“Iris, I’ve been waiting for you to give us another chance for <em> years </em> ,” Scott confessed. “I know I messed up, and <em> I’m sorry </em> , but when Mr. Bridge said that there was actually one vacant spot left instead of two, and it was for the chief editor…A very demanding and time consuming position usually given to juniors or seniors only? I <em> couldn’t </em> let that chance pass me. I absolutely shouldn’t have licked Bridge’s boots by agreeing that you were a pretty face with undeserved ambitions—at least Hwang is smart enough to stay out of my way, I know that she’s the one who ratted me out—and I was sincere when I apologized for it…But at the time I reasoned that it was a good thing for us to take a break. We both needed to figure out what we wanted—”</p><p>“What I wanted <em> was </em> to be part of the newspaper!” Iris reminded him. “ <em> Not </em> to hang out with you, to <em> gain some experience </em> before I pursued an education in journalism!” </p><p>“Iris, <em> come on </em>,” Scott dared doubt her words, the hint of a smile curling the corner of his mouth. “You would have hated the workload of the newsroom, you were a social butterfly. Even after we got together you would still try to attend every party you heard about—no, I’m not saying it’s a bad thing! That’s who you were when we started dating, and I was fine with that then. But this opportunity with Mr. Bridge…I had to give it two hundred percent. So when you broke things off, yes I was unpleasantly surprised, but I figured that after a year or two you’d realize that I was the only guy in this entire school who was good enough for you.”</p><p><em> Of course you thought that, </em> Iris drawled in her head while she rolled her eyes.</p><p>“But you didn’t, and after I learned that you and Eddie didn’t stick together, I understood why,” Scott claimed.</p><p>“Because I don’t need a boyfriend to feel like I have my life together?” Iris stated the obvious.</p><p>“Because while I was waiting for you to ask me out, <em> you </em> were waiting for <em> Barry Allen </em> to ask you out,” her ex corrected her, his voice sharp.</p><p>“That’s not true!” Iris denied, baffled by his groundless theory. “Oh wow, Scott, so you’re targeting a <em> harmless nerd </em> because you needed to find someone else to accuse for the fact that I didn't come crawling back to you, when the <em> simple truth </em> is that I’ve <em> grown </em> and won’t settle for a self-important, back-stabbing—”</p><p>“I was <em> fifteen, </em> Iris!” Scott cut her off. “Not everyone is as selfless as you, Miss Sunshine…Now that I think about it, I did use that old nickname when I told Becky that she couldn’t compare to you. She’s jealous of you for that reason but she tries to hide it, it’s pathetic.”</p><p>“And <em> you’re </em> jealous of Barry, for <em>no reason whatsoever</em>, but you decided to do something about it,” Iris countered coldly. “That’s even more pathetic!”</p><p>“‘<em> Harmless nerd’? </em> ‘ <em> For no reason whatsoever’? </em>” Scott quoted before letting out an incredulous huff. “Iris, please, don’t insult me by implying that I haven’t figured out that you’re secretly dating Allen.”</p><p>“Excuse me?” was Iris’ knee reflex.</p><p>“He didn’t admit it directly when I asked him last week, after you knocked out Woodward,” Scott added with a wave of his free hand, “but this week he’s been so smug about texting you. I fucking didn’t ask him, I was just annoyed at his phone vibrating… I swear I almost punched him when my nosy mom commented that he was sweatier than usual when our paths crossed after he came back from his run, and he shamelessly explained that he’d ‘worked out a sweat’ with a kickass girl—”</p><p>“Why would Barry tell you about that?” Iris asked, getting impossibly more uncomfortable than she already had been having her ex admit that he wasn’t over her. “When would he have the chance to <em> talk to you </em>at all?”</p><p>“He hasn’t told you?” Scott asked back with a frown. “<em> Of course </em> he hasn’t. Allen is my fucking <em> neighbor </em> , same floor and everything. That rich kid lives in a fucking condo all by himself, though I’m sure his nerd friends stay over at times, I’ve seen them walk to the bus stop together often enough. You remember our community lounge, right? With the computers and the fast internet. The king of the nerds is <em> always there, </em> working on who knows what every time of the year.”</p><p>“Barry didn’t admit to secretly dating me because we’re <em> not </em> secretly dating,” Iris corrected her ex, weirded out by the information Scott had just shared with her.</p><p>Barry Allen, smug? Taunting Scott about spending time with her? That didn’t sound like him, though Becky <em> had </em>guessed right that a nerd like him would be super proud of being associated with a popular girl like her.</p><p>“Then what’s the deal with the ‘working out a sweat’ bit?” Scott interrogated her. “Don’t tell me you two are workout buddies or something. Both of you exercise enough on your own—you look <em> amazing </em> by the way, Iris. And congrats on yet another championship.” </p><p>“Don’t think that your flattery will make me forget that you’re trying to bully Barry just because he and I are friends. We were best friends before, you know that, and you know that I’m into boxing. But of course you jumped into the conclusion that Barry was referring to sex…I’m teaching him how to <em> defend himself </em> from assholes like you!”</p><p>“What the hell are you talk—” </p><p>“People are just about to figure out that a juicy drama is happening in here,” Linda’s voice warned them as she walked past Scott and handed Iris a brownie identical to the one Scott was still holding.</p><p>“Want me to stay or should I wait for you outside?” she asked Iris with a concerned look.</p><p>“It’s fine, Scott was leaving anyways,” Iris replied with a glare at Scott, who glared back before looking up to the ceiling and sighing loudly.</p><p>“Let me know the time and place if you want to finish this conversation,” he suggested as he walked backward towards the unlocked side door through which they’d all sneaked in. “After all, you <em> still </em> have my number.”</p><p>“Dream on, Evans,” Iris replied smugly as she smoothly reached for her long hair over her shoulder and flipped it forward, watching him go with a dismissive look in her eyes.</p><p>(Full disclosure: she'd practiced doing that in front of the mirror back when she'd decided to break up with Scott. Unfortunately, her emotions had been running too high for her to play the diva when the time came. Plus, her hair had been curly then instead of silk-pressed like it was now, so she couldn't have achieved the sharp yet flowy movement she'd just performed.) </p><p>“<em> Oh my God </em>," Linda exclaimed with exaggerated flair, "did you just channel your inner Beyoncé right there? This whole scene reminded me of ‘Irreplaceable’. You know, the part right after the guy slams the trunk of the cab following the scene when Bee takes away the sweater and chain she bought him?”*</p><p>“Girl, yes!” Iris confirmed with a giggle. “That was a nice save, by the way, thank you. I didn’t want anyone else to see us together after they all saw him get a brownie for me—by the way, you’re the best best friend ever,” she added before biting into the brownie Linda had given her.</p><p>For five peaceful seconds there was nothing but the sweet cocoa sponginess melting on her tongue… </p><p>“I heard 'Barry' and 'sex' in the same sentence,” Linda’s words brought her back to the unpleasant reality of her life. “Did you tell Scott about the token?”</p><p>“No,” Iris reassured her. “Lin, <em> so much </em> has happened since second period, it’s not even funny!”</p><p>At least lunch wasn’t over until another twenty minutes, so Iris didn’t have to rush to tell her about Scott and Simmons’ conversation as well as her own conversation with Scott.</p><p>“Kudos to Allen for pissing off your ex,” Linda joked. “What? It’s good to know that the nerd has some ego!”</p><p>“He had to know that pissing off the only prince of the royal family would get him in trouble, though,” Iris reflected out loud. </p><p>“At least Scott was acting on his own,” Linda commented. “Well, by ‘his own’ I mean not with Becky. I’m sure he had his bootlickers from junior high ready to do the dirty work, like Simmons. But this is a classic, straightforward case of the jealous ex, not a royal conspiracy like what you first thought."</p><p>That didn't make Iris feel better. Barry was still a target.</p><p>"And <em>if</em> <em>you’d told me</em> everything earlier," Linda added with a reproachful look, "I would’ve warned you against giving Allen false hopes that you two might end up together. That’s definitely what he’s thinking, otherwise he wouldn’t be bold enough to taunt Scott like that. Seriously Iris, what are you going to do now?”</p><p>“About that,” Iris said quietly after she finished her last bite of brownie. </p><p>Hiding stuff from Linda was what had gotten her in this mess in the first place. She had to speak up <em> now. </em></p><p>“I think that,” she started, paused, glanced at Linda who lifted her eyebrows in encouragement.</p><p>“I think that I’ve fallen for Barry,” she confessed with her volume going lower with each word coming out.</p><p>Silence settled between the besties for a full minute, Iris keeping her gaze down as she twirled the plastic plate that remained after her brownie.</p><p>“Wait, no, Iris, that’s great, that’s <em> perfect </em> even!” Linda blurted out, her enthusiasm growing gradually before she grabbed Iris by the shoulder and shook her off.</p><p>“It is?” Iris asked, confused.</p><p>“Of course it is!” Linda confirmed with a big smile. “I won’t have to fight over my title of best friend if Barry becomes your <em> boyfriend </em>—”</p><p>“<em> Linda, </em> I’m being serious here,” Iris reprimanded her with a light slap to the other girl's shoulder.</p><p>“So am I!” Linda promised, giggling then letting her go just to extend her palms forward in a stop motion. “Okay, hear me out. Barry's already crazy about you, right so—don't give me that 'I'm not sure ' face, West. If a nerd turns his admiration of your body into a science assignment, it means that you're just as fascinating to him as the big bang."</p><p>"I don't think that's real life nerd logic, Linda" Iris objected.</p><p>"Who cares, Allen is into you and that's the real truth," Linda deadpanned with a shrug. "Anyways, what I suggest is: you tell Barry everything—wait, <em> first </em> confess that you have feelings for him, that way he won’t get mad at you for not telling him about the token. So you tell him everything,  <em> then </em> you tell Becky that you won’t redeem your token. Who cares if she doesn’t help you with your campaign? You won’t need her! You won’t need the help of any of the other popular kids, you know why, right? Future Pulitzer Prize?”</p><p>“Barry and I will be the biggest social scandal of CC High if we become a real couple,” Iris asserted. “And scandal can be turned into a great PR move…Lin, I think I know what I’ll say for my campaign speech.”</p><p>“That’s my girl,” Linda approved with a wink. </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p><b> <em>Hey, you were supposed to text me when you left school, </em> </b>Iris thought was a natural way to start her conversation with Barry early that evening.</p><p>She got worried when it took him more than five minutes to answer. It never took more than half a minute for him to text back.</p><p>Therefore, when Barry himself called, Iris eagerly picked up the phone.</p><p>“Hello? Barry? Is everything alright? Are you okay?” She asked him back to back, forcing herself to pause so he could actually reply.</p><p>“Iris,” he said in a breathy tone, sounding <em> relieved? </em></p><p>Did he expect her not to pick up his phone call? It was true that Iris hated talking on the phone with anyone but Linda, and even then they put each other on speaker and talked while doing something else, like commenting on a show during commercial runs. But she could make an exception for Barry tonight.</p><p>“Hey Barry,” Iris replied softly. “What’s up?”</p><p>“I just…I just wanted to hear your voice,” he answered and Iris wasn’t surprised by the “sorry” that followed.</p><p><em> I really can’t be blamed for being head over heels for this boy, </em> Iris claimed in her head. <em> Who else could sound so adorably sincere when saying something so cheesy? </em></p><p>“It’s nice to hear you too, Bear,” Iris replied, belatedly realizing that she’d used his childhood pet name. “Sorry, I mean, <em> Barry </em>—how was the rest of your day?”</p><p>“This reminds me of the times when you’d go visit your grandparents,” Barry brought up in a rush.</p><p>“Oh,” Iris reacted just as a series of memories flashed in her mind.</p><p>On Thanksgiving and during most Christmases, the Wests would visit either Francine’s or Joe’s parents, and those would be the only times of the year that Iris would spend more than a night time away from Barry. She was very comfortable with her extended family, but she would sorely miss her best friend during the holidays, so her parents would call the Allens just before dinner so she could talk to Barry for a few minutes.</p><p>“You don’t remember?” Barry asked her in the present, his voice sounding so distressed that it almost sounded the way it did before he hit puberty.</p><p>“Of course I remember, Barry!” she reassured him. “I just, I…Um—”</p><p>“Sorry, I didn’t mean to put you on the spot like that,” Barry cut her off with an apology. “I’m not…I should hang up, I’m feeling terrible right now and it’s ruining everything.”</p><p>“Wait Barry, no, don’t hang up!” Iris pleaded. “Did something happen at school? You never texted me when you left school”</p><p>There was a short but tense silence between them and Iris had a bad feeling about this.</p><p>"Can we talk tomorrow?" He requested without answering her questions. "In person, I mean. Would…would you come to my place? You don't have to, we can go to Jitters? But a lot of students go there, how about I—"</p><p>"Your place is fine, Barry," Iris saved him from stuttering any further, fighting a smile. "I have something to tell you too," she let him know, her heart knocking hard against her ribs.</p><p>"You do?" He asked, his surprise clear in his voice.</p><p>"It's not bad news," Iris reassured him. "At least I don't think that it is."</p><p>"Okay," he acknowledged softly. “I’m looking forward to it. I'll text you my address whenever you're free. Goodnight, Iris.”</p><p>“Goodnight Barry,” she replied, and she could swear that she <em>heard</em> him smile before he hung up.</p><p>Despite her worry at the fact that he hadn’t said anything about leaving school safely, Iris felt a giddiness under her skin and some buzzing in her stomach…Butterflies? No, it felt more like a bee swarm. It was intense but painless anticipatory energy. Hopefully. Bees stung.</p><p>
  <b> <em>I’m not trying to trick you or anything, but please come over to my place tomorrow or Sunday and I’ll show you. I’ve got proof. Pictures on film, no Photoshop possible.</em> </b>
</p><p>Iris blinked at the text message. It was Scott.</p><p>Proof? Proof of what?</p><p><b> <em>What are you talking about, Scott? </em> </b> She responded. <b> <em>Did you text the right person?</em> </b></p><p>
  <b> <em>Yes, Iris. Thank you for replying. </em> </b>
</p><p>Typing. Silence. Typing again.</p><p>
  <b> <em>Sorry for earlier, I realize now that I came on too strong. </em> </b>
</p><p>
  <b> <em>My dumb ego and my insecurities have been keeping me away from talking to you all this time.</em> </b>
</p><p>
  <b> <em>I shouldn’t have waited until now that I feel like I’m about to lose you for good to speak up. That’s lame.</em> </b>
</p><p><em> You lost me when you undermined my worth and stepped over me to help yourself, </em> Iris thought, but didn’t write it down.</p><p><b> <em>I’m visiting Barry tomorrow, </em> </b> she decided to let him know. <b> <em> I’m worried, I think that he got beat up by the basketball players after all. So I’ll stop by to see you afterwards. At the lounge, or outside. Those are my terms.</em> </b></p><p>Silence, for a good minute. Maybe he was trying to force himself not to say anything about Barry that might anger Iris. That would be a wise move.  </p><p>Typing again.</p><p><b> <em>I accept your terms, but Iris, please, come see me first, </em> </b> Scott replied. <b> <em> I only need ten minutes at most. You deserve to know. </em> </b></p><p>Know what, that he was sorry? He’d made that clear already. Scott had never sounded as apologetic and desperate as today, Iris realized. His arrogance still seeped through his language, even in text, but he appeared humbled to a degree that she’d never thought possible for him.</p><p>She’d found his high self-esteem appealing back then, and Iris wasn’t oblivious enough not to know that it had rubbed off on her at a time when she needed it most, when her relationship with her mother had seemed to sour permanently.</p><p>But the self-esteem Iris got from Scott had been superficial, unlike the one that Linda brought out of her when the two girls spent enough time together.</p><p>And it was <em>nothing</em> compared to the one-million-dollar feeling Iris felt whenever Barry complimented her.</p><p>So, yes, Iris would give Scott a chance to get closure. She needed it too, before she moved on completely and hopefully took the courage to confess her feelings to Barry.</p><p><b> <em>I’ll see you tomorrow, Scott. Goodnight. </em> </b> Iris remembered to text before she went to sleep, not paying attention to his text back since she expected that it would just be some version of 'goodnight Iris'.</p><p>Therefore, the line <em><strong>Barry Allen is a fraud</strong></em> was marked as read, but Iris didn't actually read it. Her gaze had been on the night lamp when she reached out for the light switch with one hand while she automatically exited the text application and turned off her phone with the other hand.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Kudos and comments are always appreciated!</p><p>I'm aware that some of you knew or highly suspected that I'd dropped this bomb so don't be shy give me your feedback, ALL CAPS and emojis are welcome and encouraged 😅🙃</p><p>* I remembered the scene from the music video right after I described Iris flipping her hair, so I just had to reference it! It's been 14 years since the video came out, but trust me to remember useless details from my teenage years. I still know the song by heart even, that's crazy 😂</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. The Truth</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The truth. All of it.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Everyone else last chapter: did poor Barry get beaten up?</p><p>Me: Vani_vani, you tell them!</p><p>Sorry for the late update, friends! I made the chapter extra long and extra dramatic and extra convoluted to make up for it! Hope you enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>“I thought that you knew. Until yesterday, that is,” Scott said as Iris looked at the dozen photographs he’d handed to her as soon as she entered the lobby of the condos complex building. </p><p>Photographs developed from <em> film </em>(hard to photoshop them, if that was at all possible), and Iris reminded herself that she needed to learn the skill.</p><p>“By the way, you look amazing, Iris,” her ex complimented her, possibly in an attempt to cheer her up because she had to look at least half as upset as she felt.</p><p>The makeup look and clothing style that Iris had gone for today was one that she’d perfected over the past year. It made her feel prettier, more elegant, and powerful. Like a modern princess.</p><p>Iris <em> didn’t </em> feel like a princess now, however, not after she was done inspecting all of the pictures.</p><p>She felt like a<em> fool. </em>A fool who’d been entertaining the uncrowned king of the nerds for the past week.</p><p>Scott had taken (from the safety of his parked car, it seemed) various shots of what had been a very intense fight at the secondary parking lot of CC High. </p><p>Iris counted ten participants in total: seven basketball players, the team captain Justin Bradley among them; two baseball players, one of them pitcher Elliot Simmons.</p><p>(Did their captain Eddie Thawne know about them joining the ‘gorillas’ to beat up a nerd? Unlike most athletes, Eddie was a stand-up guy who never bullied anyone and tried to keep the rest of his team in check.)</p><p>All of the nine athletes had been knocked down by <em>one</em> <em>Barry Allen</em> with impressive kicks and hits from his elbows and his knees. Iris begrudgingly gave credit to Scott for managing to immortalize five of those very impressive moves, as they’d probably been delivered very quickly.</p><p><em> Muay thai, </em>Iris figured out Barry's fighting style after a second look through all of the pictures.</p><p>She should’ve realized that during their first training session. Barry's stance had been inadequate for <em> boxing</em>, but not for <em>other types</em> of combat.</p><p><em> That’s why his guard is so high, </em> she reasoned in her head, <em> because he’s used to fending off high kicks to the head. His leading foot goes inward to be able to quickly pivot on his heels. And </em> of course <em> he always tries to use his legs, that’s what he’s been training to do for who knows how many years now! </em></p><p>It had to be years, because on the picture of Barry glaring down at some of his fallen opponents while others limped away, there was no sign of struggle on <em> his side </em>. </p><p>He hadn’t broken a sweat in a fight against nine athletes. Those athletes weren’t trained fighters, granted, but <em> nine </em> guys? All of them intent on beating him up <em> ? </em> The element of surprise should’ve only worked on the first two. Barry had to be as skilled as a professional MMA fighter to pull that off. </p><p>“Do you know why Bradley and his guys wanted to teach Allen a lesson?” Scott’s questions brought Iris back to the present moment.</p><p>She glared at her ex, the message <em> “go ahead and tell me already” </em> clear in her eyes. </p><p>“He poisoned their energy drinks,” the newspaper editor informed her, and she couldn't hide her shock, which doubled when Scott added: “in retaliation for Bradley ruining the chess team’s championship.”</p><p>Iris remembered the chess team's story from last fall: on the day of the competition, someone had planted flyers all over the school announcing that the location of the chess tournament had been changed. The chess players and their parents showed up to a fake location, and couldn’t make it to the original location on time. The team had lost by forfeit.</p><p>Principal Meyers had been furious to say the least, and for weeks the chess team coach and multiple teachers had tried to make the athletes speak up, to no avail.</p><p>Iris <em> had </em> suspected Justin, but she’d been spread thin already with her homecoming campaign, so she couldn't find the time to find proof of his guilt. In any case, attacking Justin might have gotten her in trouble since he was a popular kid very high on the social pyramid (if she'd only known then that she'd punch the homecoming king later on!) The only reason why he wasn't a prince was that Becky didn't like him for a reason no one knew about. </p><p>“I only have circumstantial proof that Allen injected laxatives from the infirmary in the basketball players’ drinks, but I've been working on a few leads,” Scott let her know. “Justin knew that but I guess that he still wanted to resolve things physically. A pity he's the one who got his ass kicked. If he'd told me in advance, I would've warned him that Allen isn’t the harmless nerd he appears to be in school. He doesn’t dress all Harry Potter outside of school and I’ve seen him hit the punching bag in the gym here. Still, I thought that a whole basketball team plus extras would've bruised him a little. I'm impressed."</p><p>“I really didn’t know,” Iris promised with a shake of her head.</p><p>“I figured that out when you accused me of trying to bully a ‘harmless nerd’ yesterday,” Scott reassured her. “I guess that you didn't know about the sabotage either?” </p><p>“I didn't," Iris answered truthfully. </p><p>Two sabotages of two teams that could’ve brought back a <em> state championship </em> to the school…Boys were so dumb sometimes. What should anyone expect, when this year’s homecoming king was <em> Tony Woodward? </em></p><p>"But thank you for the irrefutable proof that Barry has been deceiving me,” Iris added as she fanned the air with the stack of pictures. “I'll confront him with those in a moment. I can return the pictures to you on Monday—"</p><p>"You can keep them, I have the negatives," Scott allowed with a dismissive shrug of his shoulders. "I'm glad that you didn't doubt my words on this despite your…friendship with Allen."</p><p>"I'm choosing to believe you for now, but I won't take your words about the sabotage as <em> absolute truth </em> until I get a confession from Barry himself," Iris corrected him. "And Scott? You suck."</p><p>"What?" her ex reacted, confused.</p><p>"<em>You picked a side,</em>" she pointed out sternly. "You're an aspiring <em> journalist</em>, yet you picked a side. You didn't say anything about exposing your athlete friends for sabotaging the chess team. That's not <em> true journalism </em>."</p><p>"This is fucking <em> high school, </em>West!" Scott reminded her. "Who cares about impartiality? Allen took you away from me—"</p><p>"<em>You</em> <em>lost me</em> by putting your amateur career as a journalist ahead of your loyalty to me,” Iris corrected him coldly. “Yet you couldn't bother giving that career your best shot by showing a modicum of integrity. It shouldn't come as a surprise, really, with you working under ‘the great Mason Bridge’ who judges girls by their <em>appearances</em>. I should feel flattered that you decided to give me a full picture of the feud between Barry and Justin, I guess."</p><p>Scott tried to put in a few words, but Iris held the photographs close to his face to keep him quiet. </p><p>"You used the newspaper's resources to expose Barry and <em>him</em> <em>alone</em>," she hammered her point home, "because you're <em>jealous</em> of his relationship with me. That's beneath the guy I used to like. I hope for the sake of the city that you'll do better when you start earning money for telling your audience the <em>full stories </em>that they need to hear. If not, who cares, <em>I'll</em> be out there doing real investigative journalism."</p><p>Iris walked away from Scott without saying goodbye, getting in the elevator and quickly pressing the button to the third floor.</p><p>She had to take a few deep breaths to get her mind away from her disappointment at the boy she used to look up to, and to focus on her outrage over Barry's deception.</p><p>When Barry in question opened the door to his place, Iris gasped quietly at the appearance of the boy she was very much still in love with.</p><p>He didn't look <em> anything </em> like a nerd in the form-fitting black shirt that showcased his arms and the blue jeans that highlighted the muscle tone in his long legs.</p><p>Though some nervousness seeped through his smile, he didn't look like the shy guy Iris had interacted with this past week. Even as he waved Iris inside, his body language seemed totally different, suggesting a higher self-confidence than what he showed her at school and in her parents’ garage.</p><p>"Let me grab you some slippers," he told her cheerfully as he politely directed her to his coat hanger stand—where a <em> black leather jacket </em> cohabitated with nerdy cardigans and sweaters.</p><p>"It's probably not your size because it's too big for Caitlin, and you two are around the same height," he started rambling off.</p><p>"Barry," Iris called out sternly, though even to her own ear she sounded more upset than angry.</p><p>He picked up on her mood, and only then noticed the pictures in her hand.</p><p>"Damn it," he whispered lowly, and let out a long sigh before looking her in the eye.</p><p>"I was going to tell you everything, Iris, <em> I swear </em>."</p><p>"Including how you sabotaged the basketball team's entire season?" She questioned at a higher volume than she meant to use.</p><p>Barry's eyebrows went high on his forehead, and he stared at her for a few heartbeats before hiding his face in his hand and <em> laughing. </em></p><p>He laughed, like there was something <em> funny </em> about this situation.</p><p>"Wow," he exhaled after he calmed down, and he went to the nearby closet and pulled out the slippers. </p><p>"I have<em> a lot </em> to apologize for, that's true," he admitted after placing the slippers at her feet, "but you being mad at me for giving Bradley <em> exactly what he deserved </em> is the pot calling the kettle black, don't you think, Iris?"</p><p><em> What? </em> Iris thought, or maybe she said it out loud because Barry elaborated on his claim, ticking off one finger on his raised hand.</p><p>"You spilled soda on Fontanezzi's assigned paper before he could hand it out for a grade in order to punish him for destroying Edd Gauss' 3D paper sculpture that was supposed to be submitted to the Smart Art competition at the Visual Arts Museum," he then lifted another finger, "You made the crowd boo Laurel Lance's singing performance at the Jitters’ talent show because she'd shifted the blame of <em> her </em>spill of a hazardous waste bin in chem class on Neil Boarman a few days prior. She didn't want to stay behind to clean up because she had to rehearse for her performance, so she got Neil in trouble to get away with her carelessness."</p><p>Barry checked off more fingers as he listed more of the avenging plots Iris had carried out over the years, and some of them were from freshman year even, when Iris hadn't quite yet figured out her justice system.</p><p>"You knew all along?" Iris asked, dumbfounded.</p><p>“Yeah,” he confirmed quietly. </p><p>Iris had noticed how he’d migrated further into the living room, putting distance between them as if he was anticipating a violent reaction from what he was about to tell her.</p><p>“That’s why Becky knows too," he informed her. "I’m the one who told her. She respects you despite herself, granted, but she’s not observant enough to pick up on—”</p><p>“<em>What the hell, </em> Barry?” Iris basically screamed at him. “You and Becky?”</p><p>Was she dreaming? Was this a <em> nightmare? </em> There was no way that she’d heard him right! But now that she thought about it... </p><p>“The uncrowned king of the nerds, <em> Becky’s </em> the one who called you that first and everyone just picked up on that,” Iris remembered.</p><p>Barry nodded quietly, and she couldn’t believe the nerve of him! He’d asked her why she’d called him ‘your majesty’ just yesterday!</p><p>“How could you do that, Barry?” she asked him, her cheerleader’s training allowing her to keep her voice loud and even despite the whirlwind of feelings spiralling out of control in her head and in her heart. “Tell my secret to Becky Cooper? And hiding the fact that you can more than <em> defend yourself </em> from bullies…Oh my God, does Tony know that you’re not a weakling too? Was I the only one who <em> didn’t </em> know?”</p><p>“I was going to tell you everything!” Barry reiterated his claim from earlier. “And it’s not like <em> you’ve </em> been completely honest with me either! Am I wrong?”</p><p>Iris froze.</p><p><em> Fuck my life, </em> she cursed internally. <em> Fuck my stupid, fake, overly dramatic school life! </em></p><p>“You knew about the token, of course,” she guessed. “Becky must have told you right? Since apparently you two are <em>besties</em>.”</p><p>“Please, I’ll accept all other kinds of insults but this one,” he countered with a scoff. “Becky and I <em> aren’t </em> friends. She’s my ex, of sorts. We kinda dated in the summer between sophomore and junior year when we were both in L.A. And the token was <em> my </em> idea, not hers.”</p><p>Iris wasn’t having a nightmare. She’d stepped into the twilight zone, no, she’d stepped into a <em> parallel universe </em>.</p><p>“Why would you…Why?” She questioned her childhood best friend, shocked beyond reason. “Your own virginity, Barry? <em> What the fuck? </em>”</p><p>“I initially didn’t think that we’d go that far!” He defended himself, raising his hands in surrender. “I thought you'd be upfront about it from the start! The challenge just had to sound crazy enough to match Becky’s style. All I wanted was for us to reconnect, and it <em> worked, </em> didn’t it?”</p><p>“Couldn’t you reach out to me <em> like a normal person? </em>” Iris asked, dumbfounded. “‘Hello, Iris, want to grab coffee at Jitters some time and reminisce about the good old time’? Or is that too smooth of a pick up line for a nerd like you?”</p><p>No, no, no, she hadn’t meant to say that!</p><p>“Wow Iris, way to internalize this bad bitch persona you’ve been faking for years,” Barry reprimanded her mockingly. “Do I sound like I’m socially challenged? Does Cisco? What about <em>Chester</em>? You had quite a few conversations with him last year, whereas <em> with me </em> it was all business and no small talk even when I <em> did try </em> to engage you in a normal conversation!”</p><p>“I was there for you to help me pass that stupidly difficult pre-calc class, not to go down memory lane!” Iris reminded him sternly.</p><p>“Then what about <em> all the times </em> I’d tell you hello by the lockers, huh?” Barry challenged her, but she wasn’t going to let him guilt-trip her.</p><p>“I’d say hi right back! Are you kidding me, Allen?”</p><p>“Exactly!” he finally raised his voice as high as her, and that made her pause.</p><p>“You’d say hi back and walk away, leaving me standing there like an idiot,” he added, sounding more sad than angry. “As if I was some random <em> stranger </em> begging for the attention of the school’s princess he only knew from afar. We grew up two blocks away from each other, Iris. Our busy parents took turns watching over us. We were <em> best friends! </em>”</p><p>“We were, <em> past tense! </em> ” Iris confirmed vehemently. “And <em> whose fault </em> is that? I’m not the one who left, Barry! You’re the one who went to Star City with your uncle and wouldn’t talk to me when I’d call you on the phone.”</p><p>“Iris, what? No, that’s not—”</p><p>“Then your uncle told us to stop calling you at all,” she kept going without acknowledging his interruption. “It took me so much time and energy to move on from you, Barry! Ask Linda. She joked about fighting for her best friend status when she learned that we’ve reconnected, because she <em> knows </em> how much you used to mean to me! But alright, all cards on the table, yeah? The whole truth?”</p><p>“The whole truth,” he agreed somberly.</p><p>“I didn’t recognize you until halfway through freshman year,” she confessed a little sheepishly. “Not sure if you’ve noticed, Barry, but you have more than half a foot over me now, so unless I look way up, I can’t see your face! And by the time I did recognize you, I was trying to put back together the pieces of me that Scott had broken! I was trying to find myself after my plans for my social and extracurricular lives for the next <em> four years </em> had been ruined!”</p><p>“I could have helped you figure it out,” Barry claimed weakly.</p><p>“No, you couldn’t have!” she denied passionately. “I was done with giving my time to boys who sucked up my energy…”</p><p><em> Fuck, no, that’s a lie</em>, she admitted to herself as Barry paled visibly.</p><p>“<em>I take that back </em>, sorry!” she rushed to apologize. “Being your best friend never felt like a burden, Barry, no. We always had fun together, and I liked being able to protect you from bullies. You were smart and brave and strong, just shorter than everyone else—”</p><p>“<em>Please, </em> even for my size I was a wimp,” he objected with a snort.</p><p>“My point is, four years ago I’d decided to do things <em> for myself </em> this time,” Iris argued. “That meant no boyfriends and no going out of my way to establish deep friendships. Linda has been more than I’ve needed and more than I’ve deserved since you left me—”</p><p>“I <em> didn’t </em> leave you, my uncle took me away!” Barry corrected her, his voice breaking. “You think that I wanted to be away from you? I had a crush on you the size of Jupiter since forever! You'd been part of my life since I could form memories! I <em> begged </em> my uncle to let me stay with you and your parents, after all they’d taken turns with mine to raise me, and you guys had an extra bedroom, we could’ve <em> lived together! </em>Well, that's what I thought until I…”</p><p>“That’s not how the system works, Barry,” Iris pointed out, a bit breathless by his admission that he had a crush on her back then. “My parents couldn’t become your legal guardians if you had family willing to claim you.”</p><p>“And claiming me they did,” he confirmed bitterly. “<em>They </em> wouldn’t let me speak to you on the phone, just like they wouldn’t let me call my dad in prison. I had to sneak around to do that, and once they caught me they prevented me from doing it again by notifying the warden at Iron Heights. I couldn’t do anything on my own because until I reach twenty-one, not eighteen! <em> Twenty-one</em>, I have no independent access to my trust funds. Then on top of all that I had to deal with all the bullying in school…”</p><p>“<em>Oh my God </em>, Barry, I’m so sorry,” Iris apologized immediately, finally toeing off her shoes and putting on the slippers so she could walk closer to him, though she kept a fair distance between them when he shook his head.</p><p>“I’m fine, after a few beat ups I got lucky to befriend an IT genius, Felicity Smoak…And she was the girlfriend of the big boss there. No one could mess with me the moment they saw me walking next to Oliver Queen.”</p><p>“You know <em> Oliver Queen? </em> ” Iris couldn’t help her reaction, and she winced at the eye roll Barry gave her. “What? He <em> is </em> notorious on top of being a rich kid! Wasn’t he held hostage for like two years by some terrorist group that never got caught even when he managed to escape them?”</p><p>“He didn’t escape them, <em> they released him </em> because he impressed them,” Barry informed her with a proud smirk. “He already knew some self-defense at eight years old, so when he managed to knock out a few of their lower-ranks, their leader started teaching him how to fight. And Oliver taught me as much that he learned from that guy and other mentors as he could in the four years we hung out together: krav maga, sambo, savate…But I favor muay thai because it’s a professional combat sport just like boxing. It's Oliver’s best friend John who got me into it actually. He learned it from his stepfather, who reminded me of <em> your dad, </em>Iris: both are strict and intimidating but they're very kind and easily communicate with younger people. Jon's stepdad used to be a cop too, after a short career as a professional muay thai fighter. Your dad wanted to be a professional boxer, right? He told us in the third grade when we had to do a presentation about our parents’ careers.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Iris whispered, surprised that he remembered that detail.</p><p>So did she, but Joe West was <em> her dad </em> and Iris had a pretty good memory. It was applying that memory to stupid standardized tests that was a challenge.</p><p>“I clinged to my memories of you so hard, Iris,” Barry confessed with emotion. “My memories of <em> us</em>. I eventually grew comfortable in Star City, and despite my family keeping me away from my dad I had a great life with them and Felicity and Oliver and John…But I <em> missed you</em>, everyday.” </p><p>Iris didn’t know what to reply to that. She’d missed him too, but she <em> had </em> moved on (had she?). She’d had Linda and eventually she’d had Stacy and Kamilla too, though they weren’t as close friends as Linda. Then Iris had met Scott and her life had seemed complete because he hadn’t just been her boyfriend, he’d been the one who’d introduced her to journalism, to her professional aspiration.</p><p>Which was why she'd felt like she’d reached rock bottom when they broke up.</p><p>“I have Ray and Sydney to thank for being able to return to Central City,” Barry resumed after passing a hand in his hair, probably feeling embarrassed for talking about his emotions but Iris just stared at how he’d managed to make that move look like it came out of a Giorgio Armani perfume commercial<em>. </em></p><p>“The Palmer twins approached me in the eighth grade to ask me if I’d learned about Dr. Wells leaving the international scene to teach at a high school in my hometown,” he recounted with a more even tone. “That was a huge deal in the science community back then. My uncle was reluctant to let me come back here on my own, but with a big name like Harrison Wells my argumentation was solid. After all, CC High has been the best public high school in the region for a couple generations now. My parents went there, yours did too. We’re up there with the private schools affiliated to Ivy Leagues because we get so many awards from both the academic and the athletic fields—”</p><p>“Which is why you and Justin deserve to be suspended for ruining <em> two championships! </em>” Iris lectured him.</p><p>“I only followed your example, princess,” Barry talked back cheekily. “That’s why the title of king of the nerds has stuck: the others know that I can help them if they get in trouble. I already give them tips on how to stand up to bullies, but that’s never enough. I haven’t had to do much in terms of retaliation, though, you've taken care of that pretty nicely. Injecting laxatives in the basketball team's energy drinks with a needle was actually Caitlin’s idea of a practical joke, but it sounded creative and daring so I went for it.”</p><p>“Right,” Iris acknowledged, remembering how Barry had exchanged glances with Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramon the day before.</p><p>“I hoped that <em> you’d notice me </em> for it,” Barry admitted quietly as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I tried <em> everything </em> I could think of to have you look my way, Iris, and I knew that you picked up on weird events like that. But the chess tournament fiasco happened at the beginning of the school year, so I guess that you were too busy with homecoming then with the cheer tournament to investigate that case. It took me forever to find proof that Bradley and his guys were the culprit, though. I’m not as expedient as you.”</p><p>“<em>Flattering me </em> isn’t going to make me forgive you so easily, Barry,” Iris warned him. “You could’ve talked to me if you wanted us to be friends again. I…I was actually going to tell Becky that I won't go through with the token because I <em> do </em> want us to get close.”</p><p>“Funny," he replied, "yesterday Becky told me that I was guaranteed to finish high school with a literal bang from the future prom queen—her words, not mine. Not that I’d trust her over you. Becky’s a real bitch and she’d definitely get a kick out of me getting my hopes up just to have them crushed."</p><p>Hearing Barry Allen say the word ‘bitch’ was a trip, Iris had to say.</p><p>"Anyways, that’s why I told you that we needed to talk last night," he claimed with a short sigh. "I wanted to tell you everything. We agreed on putting all cards on the table earlier, so…When you reached out to me on Monday using a coded message, I was torn. On the one side I was ecstatic that you remembered just as much about our childhood as I did, but on the other side you were being secretive about reconnecting with me, which meant that you didn’t mean for us to stay friends <em> after the challenge</em>. And I…I was fine with that <em> then</em>, alright, I confess. I was a bit sad that sex with me meant nothing to you, but if <em> that </em> was the only way I could get you to look at me, talk to me and touch me…Not a bad way to finish high school, indeed. I mean, how many nerds out there can claim that the girl they’ve loved for years agreed to pop their cherry? I’ve got to be the only one.”</p><p><em> Love? </em> Iris repeated in her head, floored by the extremely casual <em> confession. </em></p><p>“Love?” she echoed out loud. “You said that you had a<em> crush </em>—”</p><p>“When we were <em> kids, </em> ” Barry specified with a shrug. “What was I supposed to do, Iris? You’re smart and brave and strong, and you said that you planned on doing everything for yourself after you broke up with Evans...But you’re so selfless that even with your fake identity as a mean girl you were<em> avenging victims of bullying</em>, just like you did when we were kids.”</p><p>Well, she had become a bad bitch to be able to help others, kinda, so indeed, the whole doing things for herself was a bit off.</p><p>“When you’re not raising funds for the school or cheering for the sports team or bringing back trophies and medals to add to the athletic wall of fame display case, you’re watching everything that happens around campus with your keen eye. And people are so intimidated by your mean girl’s attitude that they keep their heads down or just can’t put two and two together when you write down important info on that notepad of yours. They don’t question how you know them all by names or how you know what they want and what makes them tick. Seriously, whoever wouldn’t vote for you as prom queen is just an idiot.”</p><p>He’d noticed. He’d noticed <em> everything</em>. The compliments had sounded off coming from Becky, but that's because she'd stolen <em> Barry's words</em>. He said them so naturally, like all the compliments he'd given her before.</p><p>“So really, was I supposed to watch you be this amazing leader and <em> not </em> fall in love with you? That’s unrealistic,” Barry threw at her yet again like it was <em> nothing</em>, or nearly nothing. </p><p>He'd shoved his hands in the front pockets of his jeans and was now fidgeting a tad bit, not as much as he would in school or in the garage, but with his eyes down he looked more nervous than he’d been since she walked through his front door.  “On top of everything, you get <em> more beautiful </em>every day—I’m not trying to flatter you, I promise, I’m just telling the truth. You deserve it. I’m really sorry about deceiving you, Iris. That was low even for me, and my desperation and victim complex didn’t justify it.”</p><p>“Victim complex?” Iris repeated, the term making her set aside the truths she had to share, which she had initially planned on telling Barry.</p><p>“You were <em> also </em> avoiding me because of my dad, right?” Barry asked as he looked up at her, and her heart missed a beat at the sadness brightening his ridiculously pretty green eyes framed by his ridiculously long eyelashes.</p><p>
  <em> Wait, what? </em>
</p><p>“What does anything have to do with your dad?” Iris asked, confused.</p><p>“I think that deep down you didn’t want to be associated with me, the son of a murderer,” he argued. “<em>That’s </em> why Becky broke up with me: she realized that I was 'that Barry Allen' from Central City—can you believe that she didn't recognize me from school? Okay, I wasn't too surprised either. But yeah, my dad is actually the reason why I got bullied in Star City too, because the kids at my school wanted to show me how unwelcome my kind was there.”</p><p>“Your kind?” She repeated incredulously. “You were a <em> traumatized little boy! </em> You witnessed the murder of your own mother! What the hell is wrong with people? Don't answer that, Barry, and no that's <em> not </em> why I didn't want to talk to you. I gave you my reason, I wanted to focus on myself—please let me finish," she requested when he tried to argue.</p><p>"My other reason is definitely subconscious, but it’s not related to your dad," she brought up quietly, taking a deep breath before voicing it. "I'm scared of losing you again, Barry. Each time you left my parents' house after boxing practice, and yesterday when you turned around to head back to the basement of the library…I had a mini panic attack watching you go. I think that I kept you away because deep down I was scared of hurting again if I let you into my life just for you to walk away from it a second time."</p><p>"I would <em> never </em> do that, unless you asked me to, Iris," he promised her firmly. "Which would be your right after I acted like a creep just to have you talk to me again."</p><p>"<em>And</em> to have me pop your cherry, right?" Iris teased him, laughing at how he blushed as red as the metaphorical fruit.</p><p>"God, this whole token thing was such a mess," she commented when she calmed down, then looked up at him from beneath her lashes. "How did you even convince Becky to write down <em>your</em> idea as a token?" She asked him and he shrugged</p><p>"I threatened to tell the whole school about us,” he admitted. “The homecoming queen and the king of the nerds? <em> My </em> title doesn’t really count, I’m still a peasant in Becky's eyes and being associated with me would ruin her reputation. But she got onboard with my idea right away, claiming that the punishment matched the crime anyways. She said that as a future queen you needed to ‘humble yourself’ a bit and fool around with a guy who wasn’t on top of the social pyramid. This whole royalty thing is borderline role playing, by the way. I noticed how you eyed our game of D&amp;D yesterday, and again that’s the pot calling the kettle black. You popular kids aren’t any better than us nerds.” </p><p>“Fool around, huh?” Iris repeated, not even surprised about anything coming from Becky anymore. “She made you believe that I just sleep around with guys?”</p><p>“I’m not…I’m not judging you for it, if that’s what bothers you,” he reassured her. “To each their own idea of intimacy, but clearly sex <em> doesn't </em> intimidate you, right? All the popular kids do it, and you had to blend in."</p><p>Iris stared at him with a lifted eyebrow, quite enjoying the gradual way horror settled on his face when realization hit him.</p><p>"What? <em>No way</em>, you couldn't have faked it!" He tried to deny it regardless. "What does that even mean that you faked it? Like, did the guys you did it with—I heard rumors about Eddie Thawne, that’s all—so did he not…Umm. You know, satisfy you? Does that make it not count? <em>Say</em> <em>something,</em> Iris!"</p><p>He looked like he was on the verge of fainting, so she took pity on him.</p><p>"If your ex wasn't <em> such a bitch, </em> she would've told you that Eddie didn't even see my underwear," she pointed out with a shrug. "I made Thawne come in his pants during ‘second base’ and he was so embarrassed about it that he was grateful to lie about taking my virginity. I still haven't figured out a way to make him pay for telling my secret to Becky, but I’ll find one soon."</p><p>"I need to sit down," Barry announced before stumbling to the big couch in the middle of the living room.</p><p>Iris followed him, sitting at one end while Barry dropped right in the middle. </p><p>She waited until he re-emerged from hiding his head in his hands.</p><p>"I would've cooperated if you'd decided to use the same trick, you know?" He stated quietly, his eyes not quite meeting hers. "And I wouldn't have told Becky the truth, though at this point she knows that I'd do anything for you. You haven't told her yet that you want to drop the token, right?"</p><p>"I haven't," Iris confirmed, reflecting on how Becky pretended not to know about her and Barry knowing each other.</p><p><em> She’s such a mastermind, our homecoming queen, </em> Iris concluded. <em> She manipulated everyone to further her agenda, which appeared to fit mine and Barry at the same time...But clearly she just wanted us to hurt each other. </em></p><p>"We can still have you redeem the token," Barry proposed, "that way Becky won't sabotage your campaign. I have a feeling that’s what she’ll do if you refuse to go through it at this point…Oh, the proof…Umm, what did you originally have in mind? Not a video, right?"</p><p>"Barry, I. Won't. Do. It," she told him firmly, shaking her head once. "If you want to help me, use your leverage as Becky's ex to keep her quiet about my secrets. Scott used his influence to contain the news of my demotion, so except for him and the other royals, the school doesn't even know that I'm not a princess anymore. I can still win without Becky's help, <em> that's </em> what she promised me if I went through the token, and she only wanted an audio recording of the deed as proof. Now I think I understand why she insisted on the token even though it wasn't her idea: she wanted <em> you </em> to be so grateful to her that you'd never use your former relationship as leverage against her ever again."</p><p>"Definitely," Barry agreed after a moment of reflection, but then he frowned. "Why would <em> Evans </em> help you out? I've heard rumors of you two possibly getting back together, and you went to see him before you got here, right? Is that your strategy: getting votes from people who want to see you two be the prom royal couple? It does make sense in a way, you're both princess and prince right now…"</p><p>"That's not happening," Iris promised him. "Come on, Barry, you know me, <em> both </em> the real me and the fake me. Does either personality suggest that I’d want to finish high school in such a boringly predictable fashion?"</p><p>The little panicked yet excited gaze he gave her looked exactly like the one he used to give her when she'd challenge him to be more daring in their play as kids.</p><p>“I know that I’ll get in trouble if I piss off Becky,” he declared, “but you’ve always been able to talk me into doing anything, so…"</p><p>Iris looked on curiously as he shifted on the couch to face her, then he sat tall, puffed his chest and put a fist over his heart.</p><p>"Iris Ann of the West, I hereby pledge my sword to thee," he declared with flourish in the worst British accent ever. "Command me, and I shall ride on the morrow and lead thine army to storm the castle of the Central Kingdom. I, Bartholomew of House Allen, leader to the Covenant of the Nerds, shall receive the honor of being the first of your lowly subjects to kneel upon your coronation as Queen Iris of the Formal Dance."</p><p>Iris hung onto the arm of the couch in order not to fall over from laughing so hard.</p><p>Barry Allen might not <em> look like </em> a nerd out of his sweater vests, but he <em> was </em> a nerd to the bone. What the hell with the solemn vow, that was so ridiculous!</p><p>
  <em> Wait, actually… </em>
</p><p>"Thy shalt not…kneel in the midst of the peasantry on the—the glorious day of my coronation, Bartholomew of House Allen," Iris managed to say between giggles and snorts, and hey her British accent was much better than his!</p><p>"Nay?" Barry asked, confused but not breaking character.</p><p>So Iris played for real, sitting tall and smoothing down her dress before placing her hands neatly on her lap.</p><p>"Nay," she echoed, "for it is not customary for a king to bend the knee to <em> his queen, </em> only to kiss her hand."</p><p>"Wait, what?" Barry did break character in his surprise. "What are you talking about, Iris?"</p><p>"That trouble I mean to talk you into?" She started, waiting for his nod of encouragement to continue. "I want you to campaign for prom king as I campaign for queen."</p><p>"No one but my friends would vote for me, Iris. That's ridiculous," he objected immediately.</p><p>"No it's not," Iris countered as she scooted closer to him, smiling when he readily turned his hand palm up when she reached out with hers.</p><p>"When the school learns that we’re<em> dating each other</em>, the scandal will leave everyone so confused that they will follow the lead of whoever reacts the most vocally to it," she speculated. "You have the nerds, I have the cheerleaders, and through Eddie I can get the support of the baseball team. Thawne owes me. Plus, you <em>do</em> have dirt on the basketball team.” </p><p>"Iris, your plan relies on too many uncertain variables," Barry argued. "Becky might not interfere, but <em>Tony</em> alone could influence the reaction of <em>all the other athletes</em>, and I have a feeling that Bradley would rather risk getting suspended for sabotaging the chess team than vote for <em> me </em> as prom king. And I’m not even sure that the other cheerleaders would back you up. Who's the upcoming captain of your team? If it's Esperanza Garcia you have to know that she hates me. When I was watching your team for my physics assignment she called me a creepy stalker and almost assaulted me."</p><p>"Luckily for us both, it’s her much nicer cousin Allegra Garcia who got chosen as future team captain," Iris reassured him.</p><p>"Okay, but still," he resisted. "I mean, I don't even think that I'm good enough of an actor to fake being your boyfriend…"</p><p>"Why would you <em> fake it? </em>” Iris asked incredulously. “Didn't you say that you love me?"</p><p>Oh. She forgot to tell <em> that </em> one truth.</p><p>"Yes, but you don't—" Barry started but Iris silenced him with a quick peck to the cheek.</p><p>"I'm in love with you too, Barry," she informed him, <em> finally</em>. "Sorry, that was supposed to be the first thing I told you when I got here, but Scott threw me for a loop with the whole deal of you being a fraud."</p><p>This time Barry just stared at her with wide eyes, still as a statue for two whole minutes.</p><p>"Does that mean that I'm your prom date?" He asked so innocently that Iris felt her face muscles hurt from smiling too hard.</p><p>"<em>That's </em> your main concern right now, after <em>everything</em> that I've told you about my campaign strategy?"</p><p>"Uh, not at all," he amended with a shy smile, and another blush bloomed on his cheeks. "My main concern right now is figuring out an opportunity to kiss you before you leave."</p><p>Iris didn't even make him wait ten seconds for their first kiss.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Kudos and comments are always appreciated!</p><p>4ureyesonly, you rightfully asked why the title of the fic was "Pot, Meet Kettle" so I hope that you'll read this chapter! </p><p>Someone please explain to me why I made up the two characters Elliot Simmons and Justin Bradley but then went through long minutes of research to use characters from the show for ALL the other background characters. </p><p>I definitely have to make Barry Allen extra cute and innocent in my next West-Allen fic, smh.</p><p>Updates of "Innocence Is Gone" will resume some time this week! I'm working on my GoT WIP and it's taking me a bit longer to edit my latest chapter so my West-Allen fics are suffering for it. Thank you for your patience!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. History</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A little West family drama, then some West-Allen fluff...And something else.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I don't want to let this fic go 😭 but all good things must end...Unless we find a way to revisit them. More about that in the end notes 🙃</p><p>Hope you enjoy this last chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>“Mom, dad?” Iris worked up the courage to interrupt her parents’ discussion on a criminal case that one of them was working on and the other was offering the support and expert opinion. The dining table was littered with case files, pictures of crime scenes, and notes. <em>So many notes,</em> handwritten and typed up. </p><p>Maybe note-taking was a hereditary trait.</p><p>“Not now, sweetheart,” her mother dismissed her absent-mindedly like she usually did these days, her back turned to her.</p><p>It used to hurt Iris so much, her mother ignoring her like that. But she got used to it, and lately, especially these past few days, she was too happy to let the D.A.’s indifference ruin her happiness.</p><p>Iris’ father looked up from the file he was looking at, though, and lifted his eyebrows at his wife, who sighed then moved around to look at Iris with an apologetic smile.</p><p>“Sorry, sweetheart,” she apologized, and she sounded sincere.</p><p>“What is it, Iris?” her dad asked with an encouraging smile.</p><p>With both of their attentions’ fully on her, Iris was now feeling shy about her news.</p><p>But she had to get the words out soon so she could leave within the hour. She had to pick up Caitlin snow and both were going to bake a birthday cake at Barry’s place before he got back from tutoring.</p><p>“I’m dating someone,” she announced evenly, and frowned in surprise at the <em> surprised frowns </em> on her parents’ faces.</p><p>“We know, baby girl,” her father replied hesitantly. “Unless you broke up with Barry…?”</p><p>“How did you know?” Iris asked immediately, shocked, then gaped at her mom who rolled her eyes as if saying ‘like you could hide anything from us’. “Did you hear us practice last week?”</p><p>“Are you saying that you’ve brought Barry Allen here without having him say hello?” Her dad asked as he let go of the file and crossed his arms over his chest.</p><p>“Why am<em> I </em> not surprised,” her mom mumbled as she turned back around and grabbed her notebook.</p><p>“Wait, wait!” Iris requested as she walked to stand at one end of the table, getting frustrated. “What do you mean, that you’re not surprised?”</p><p>“You’ve been sneaking behind our backs with the son of a known convict, doing god knows what, since you were <em> fifteen</em>,” the lawyer accused her. “I’m grateful that you haven’t been caught doing anything illegal, of course, but—”</p><p>“What the hell, mom!” Iris exclaimed in shock, wincing even before her dad’s face tightened in exasperation.</p><p>“Watch how you speak to your mother, young lady!” he scolded her, but then he turned his sternness towards his own wife. “And whatever happened to 'innocent until proven guilty'?”</p><p>“I don’t need <em> proof </em> to know that my daughter would do <em> anything </em> for that boy!” Francine talked back before speaking to Iris again. “And it wouldn’t even be a problem if you’d just tell us about you two getting together, <em> when </em> you got together! You’re only telling us now because he’s not a minor anymore, right? So that we won’t get him in trouble for leading you astray?”</p><p>
  <em> What. The. Fuck? </em>
</p><p>“Oh my God,” Iris breathed out as she understood what was going on. “You think that I’ve been dating Barry since freshman year, and—”</p><p>“That’s why you broke up with Scott, isn’t it?” her dad asked her, looking confused. “Because you and Barry had reunited?”</p><p>“No!” Iris corrected his assumption, <em> their </em> assumption! “Barry and I weren’t even on speaking terms until last year when he tutored me for my college class!”</p><p>She sighed at the blank faces that welcomed that piece of information.</p><p>“You really meant it,” Joe said quietly, realization dawning on him. “That Barry was tutoring you? We thought that it was some youngster’s code for something we didn’t want to know.”</p><p>Iris thought that Barry revealing that he was Becky’s ex and the author of her token had been shocking, but <em> of course </em> her own parents had to top that moment with their crazy imagination!</p><p>“How did you think that I passed that class, then?” Iris asked, laughing despite herself.</p><p>“You’re a smart girl, Iris Ann,” her mom pointed out. “We thought that you were trying to show us that your relationship with Barry wasn’t affecting your studies. That’s why we didn’t sit you down to talk about it—”</p><p>“But you two were <em> not </em>in a relationship until recently, if I’m understanding you correctly,” her dad specified.</p><p>Iris didn’t know if she should laugh or scream hysterically at the idea that her parents thought that she’d been, what? Fooling around with Barry Allen since ninth grade?</p><p>“Why did you imagine that Barry was a—a bad influence? A <em> delinquent? </em> What is…Why?” she struggled to articulate her question.</p><p>“He’s friends with <em>Oliver Queen</em>,” her mom pointed out. “Who keeps tabloid reporters busy with his scandals. He punched Star City’s mayor’s brother last week!”</p><p>Yeah, Oliver Queen wasn’t what Iris would call a role model…But Iris hadn’t known that Barry knew the billionaire’s son until last week, and Barry hadn’t been in direct contact with him for a while now.</p><p>“Why would you judge Barry by <em> his friend’s behavior </em>?” Iris demanded, crossing her arms over her chest too.</p><p>“Because <em> you </em> wouldn’t tell us <em> anything </em> about him!” her father and mother answered in unison.</p><p>“I heard you on the phone with whom I assume was Linda, three years ago” her dad recalled, “talking about being a detective’s daughter and knowing how not to get caught.”</p><p>“And I heard you tell her that you knew that I wouldn’t approve of all the things that you were doing, just last year!” her mom added.</p><p>“I was…I was talking about <em> bullying bullies at school </em>!” Iris informed them as she jerked her arms down in frustration. “Not sneaking around to…I don’t even want to know what you thought I was doing with Barry!”</p><p>“<em>Please</em>, honey, we were once teenagers too,” Francine drawled, but then got serious. “But you <em> weren’t </em>smoking marijuana or drinking alcohol or having unsafe sex, were you?”</p><p>“<em>Oh my God</em>,” Iris whined behind her hands, hiding her face.</p><p>She waited for the ground to swallow her down, but of course she wasn’t lucky like that.</p><p>“Baby girl, we’re sorry for assuming the worst,” her dad apologized, standing up from his chair to come hold her by the shoulders. “But a few days after your emotional breakup with Scott, you came home looking all calm and you told us that Barry Allen was back in town. Then you became so secretive about your school life again, even though you used to always keep us updated.”</p><p>“We thought that you and Barry had reconnected right away, and were catching up on lost time,” her mom explained as she stood up too, and rubbed Iris’ covered arm soothingly. “I was really disappointed that you wouldn’t confide in me anymore, whereas you’d tell me everything about your relationship with Scott. I truly thought that it was because you were engaging in dangerous activities and were too ashamed to tell me. And that might be because I have such a terrible opinion of cheerleaders…In our time, those girls were known to be sluts.”</p><p>“Frans,” Iris’ dad chided with an eye roll. </p><p>“What? It’s true,” the older West woman insisted.</p><p>“Cheerleaders are still known to be sluts,” Iris admitted. “But not<em> my </em> girls, well, most of them aren’t. <em> I’m not</em>. And I was too ashamed to tell you about my school life because I’ve been pretending to be a mean girl so I could join the ranks of the popular kids, so I could get elected queen…I humiliated a lot of students, but <em> only </em> those I knew to have humiliated or bullied other students! I always made sure I had proof of their guilt before doing anything…I <em> know </em> that it was wrong—”</p><p>“Avenging victims isn’t that bad,” her mom argued, a soft smile on her face as she gently brushed Iris’ cheek with her knuckles. “Believe me, as law enforcers, your father and I fantasize about doing it all the time. High school is a bit different from the real world, though. And I'm assuming that, since you’re a popular girl, the students you humiliated didn’t dare retaliate? Right, so you didn’t create a vicious cycle of retaliation, which is the worst part about this whole avenging business.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Iris answered quietly, thinking about Barry and Justin.</p><p>“And your victims likely stopped bullying others, too busy expecting to be bullied by you again,” her dad guessed. “We probably shouldn't be telling you that, but…Not bad, Iris.”</p><p>“I’d even say ‘well done’,” the D.A. congratulated her before dropping a kiss on her hair. “Why the obsession with becoming queen, though? Don’t tell me that it’s because I was queen too. I did it on a dare, sweetheart, and never expected to actually win the election.”</p><p>“I wanted you to be <em> proud </em> of me,” Iris admitted, her eyes misting over as she remembered why she'd gone through all this fake school life. “You’ve been so disappointed in me lately, and I didn’t know what else to do to regain your respect…”</p><p>“Oh, darling, I’m <em> so sorry</em>,” her mom took her fully in her arms and rocked her gently from side to side. “I was so blinded by my mistrust of Barry Allen and so convinced that you were acting out of character just to do whatever <em> he </em> wanted…I was angry that you had stopped trusting me, trusting us, even though we did all we could to help you get over him when he left.”</p><p>“Barry’s not like that,” Iris defended with a watery voice. “And please don’t call him ‘the son of a convict’...He’s his own person. He’s kind and very smart. He’s not a genius but he’s close, Professor Wells even offered him to intern at the lab he will open next fall.”</p><p>“Harrison Wells is finally opening S.T.A.R. Labs? After all this time?” her dad questioned. “That’s strange. Just as strange as him becoming a high school teacher five years ago. He could have taught at the college level.”</p><p>“Barry and his friends have taken lots of college courses already,” Iris informed him. “Thanks to Professor Wells, our science curriculum is even more competitive than it already was before him. We got lucky to have him while he was on his break from research.”</p><p>“It’s kind of fitting that the boy is getting mentored by Wells, isn’t it?” her dad told her mom. “Didn’t his grandfather sponsor a bunch of them science geniuses back in the day? Tina McGee, Tessa Morgan, Simon Stagg, and Harrison Wells?”</p><p>“Barry’s grandfather?” Iris repeated.</p><p>“Donald Thompson, Nora’s father,” Francine specified. “He died before Barry was born, I think, but he did attend Nora’s wedding with Henry Allen. It was the wedding of the decade, for sure. Henry comes from a modest background, but he was a doctor, so the Thompsons welcomed him into their prestigious family pretty easily. I can’t imagine how terrible they must all feel now. But of course Barry’s uncle would let him return to Central City to learn from Harrison Wells. He’s a CC High alumnus himself, like the rest of us. We all try to live by the school’s motto—”</p><p>“We make history,” Iris recited quietly, an odd sense of unease twisting her gut upon learning how tightly connected Barry was to his idol.</p><p>“So good for you, running for prom queen,” her mom told her as she dropped a kiss on her head then went back to the dining table. “I know that you already have medals from the cheer competitions, but a crown wouldn’t be bad at all, sweetheart.”</p><p>“But you don’t need one,” her dad reassured her before giving her a quick hug. “You’ve always been our princess, and one day you’ll be some lucky man’s queen.”</p><p>Iris’s heart jumped a bit at that.</p><p>It had just been some silly roleplay, but Barry had already promised to be the first to call her queen. And if the two of them managed to be elected king and queen of the prom… </p><p>“Weren’t you going to see Barry for his birthday?” her dad reminded her.</p><p>Iris looked him in the eye and didn’t see any sign of disapproval. He seemed to accept her relationship with Barry. Her mom…might need more convincing. Even now that she knew that Barry hadn’t led Iris ‘astray’, she might still be wary of him until her daughter's eighteenth birthday. That was the lawyer in her.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“This was the best birthday party <em> ever</em>,” Barry declared giddily as he walked Iris back to her car. “Thank you Iris, for everything. You didn’t have to stay behind to help me clean up, you know.”</p><p>“I wanted to,” she reassured him for the third time as she extended her arms to hug him, but he gently grabbed her wrists and looped her arms around his neck instead of his waist. Then he draped his hands over her back and pulled her in and up.</p><p>Iris smiled into the unhurried kiss he gave her. She loved when he moved her around like that, not forcefully but in a way that showed that he wanted to feel even closer to her. Until today he’d asked permission to touch her every single time, and Iris had once told him that he didn’t need to, that he had her explicit consent to touch her however he wanted.</p><p>That had made him blush so red that she’d been too amused by his reaction to be mortified when she’d caught on the sexual innuendo of her own words.</p><p>They hadn’t gone past kissing. Even on Saturday, when they’d both been very eager and a little sloppy kissing on his couch, the two of them <em> alone </em> in his big apartment, they hadn’t gone further than exchanging warm caresses over their clothes and even then just touching each other’s arms, shoulders and backs.</p><p>Iris really wanted to go past kissing, <em> way </em> past that, but she and Barry knew they had to wait. He was legally an adult now, and she wouldn’t be one until the end of June. Like Iris’ mom had pointed out earlier, Barry could get in trouble for that if her parents or anyone who knew them wanted to ruin Barry’s life. </p><p>Iris felt guilty about that, because she hadn’t thought that through when she’d decided to take on the token. Becky Cooper was unlikely to know the law as well as Iris and Barry (her by proxy because of her parents’ professions, him by necessity because he wanted to free his dad), but who knew if the queen of bitches wouldn’t have tried to blackmail Barry that way.</p><p>Becky had been so pissed at the two of them on Monday when they'd confronted her.</p><p><em> “I was willing to give you both what you wanted while making you respect the culture of the royal family,” </em> she’d argued angrily. <em> “But now you not only want to cancel the token, but you want to run for prom king and queen? The nerves of you two!” </em></p><p>She hadn’t threatened to ruin their campaigns, though, and though Barry hadn’t threatened to blackmail her either his assertive attitude had implied that he would if Becky stood in their way.</p><p>The announcement of their relationship that day had created a true <em> riot </em> at school. Students from all social status had been bold enough to approach Iris to confirm the news, even with Stacy and Kamilla trying to maintain order. The two princesses had stuck with Iris, even when she’d started sitting at the nerds table to have lunch with Barry. Even with the three newcomers, there had been enough room on their table for Cynthia Reynolds to break away from her own group and sit right next to Cisco, who had almost hyperventilated.</p><p>Reynolds was a track and field superstar, a hundred meters champion nicknamed ‘the Collector’ because she indeed collected medals. So she <em> was </em> a popular kid, and her showing interest in Cisco had created a minor but real buzz too—she clearly didn’t care about that.</p><p>The only thing that at first had bothered Iris about dating Barry was that he refused to change his nerd look.</p><p><em> “School is school and outside of school isn’t,” </em> he’d argued when Iris had pointed out that he already owned more laid back clothes than his uptight nerdy sweater vests, so why not wear them at school? <em> “I use my 'nerd' look to create the illusion that I’m wearing a uniform, like I did in Star City.” </em> he’d informed her. <em> “Thinking about what to wear is fun when you’re going out, but to go to school? I don’t want to waste a second on it. Caitlin and Ronnie are actually the only ones in our group who bother with nice clothes. The rest of us wear basically the same clothes every day, just in different colors. Ray and Sydney get an extra kick out of it because people consequently have trouble differentiating them.” </em></p><p>Apparently Cisco and the others had found out that Barry and the Palmer twins were kickass nerds as early as freshman year, the day Tony and a few of his teammates had tried to throw Barry ‘a welcome back party’ at the secondary parking lot (that Barry and the others used as a shortcut to catch the city bus and go play video games at Barry’s place). The three boys from Star City had whooped all of the footballers’ asses and had told them to leave them and their friends alone.</p><p>And Tony <em> had </em> stayed away, until he’d heard from Bradley that Barry was responsible for the basketball team’s bad season. He’d thought it his responsibility as homecoming king to take care of Barry, but Iris had been right there and had defended the childhood friend she’d believed to be defenseless.</p><p><em> “No wonder Tony was so mad at me,” </em> Iris had reflected when Barry had explained the story to her. <em> “Like Scott, he thought that I knew that you can fight, so while to me I was saving you from an unfair whooping, to him it really felt like I was siding with you even though I'm an athlete too.”  </em></p><p><em> “He would’ve taken me by surprise for sure, I hadn't expected him to do that,” </em> Barry admitted. <em>“So you </em> did <em> save me Iris. You’re my hero.” </em></p><p><em> “No, I’m your queen, remember, ‘Bartholomew of House Allen’?” </em>she’d teased him and laughed at his embarrassment, but then he’d shut her up by kissing her deeply.</p><p>“Iris, hey,” Barry’s voice brought her back to the present, though she couldn’t really answer him the way he kept nipping at her lips. So she kissed him long and deep, making him tremble a bit when she sucked on his tongue, and eventually they had to lean apart to breathe.</p><p>“What’s up?” she asked him between two deep inhalations.</p><p>“How’s your exposé going?” he asked her as he ran his hands up and down her back, making her hum quietly before she answered.</p><p>“Scott actually agreed to help me put it all together,” she let him know, not surprised by his responding frown.</p><p>“I hope that <em> he’s </em> not hoping to get closer to you through that,” Barry mumbled as he absent-mindedly started playing with her hair.</p><p>She'd worn it curly for his benefit today. He hadn’t said anything, but she’d seen him eyeing her oddly whenever she’d flipped her straight hair over her shoulders, and she’d noticed how careful he was not to touch it too much—which she appreciated.</p><p>Barry had kissed her harder and longer today, and he had been much less careful about touching her hair, and Iris could swear that she’d seen his pupils dilate a bit when she’d put it up in a messy bun when they’d started cleaning up after the party.</p><p>Maybe he was so reactive to her wearing it curly because it reminded him of their childhood days, or maybe it was simply because he’d been so happy about his surprise birthday party—which had been <em> so nerdy, </em> by the way: Iris and Caitlin had decorated the cake with the pi symbols instead of flowery designs, and the big flat candle Cisco had found God knew where had also been shaped after the mathematical symbol. The balloons had the symbol drawn on them too, and the Palmer Twins had crafted the happy birthday garland themselves, but instead of reading ‘Happy Birthday Barry’ it had read ‘Happy Pi Day Barry’. One of the birthday party activities had been reciting as many decimals of pi as possible, and Chester had won that contest with twenty five decimals in a row. Iris didn’t know it past 3.141, which she hadn’t felt too bad about because Caitlin only knew up to the following 5.</p><p>“<em>I have more important things to memorize! </em> ” she’d defended when Cisco had booed her.</p><p>Surprisingly, Cynthia had gone all the way to eleven decimals, so <em> maybe </em> Cisco could’ve won the contest, but he’d only stopped at <em> twelve </em> decimals to appear only slightly smarter than his crush?</p><p>It had been a fun party overall, even though Kamilla and Stacy had left early, clearly unable to bear the nerdiness of it all.</p><p>The princesses had left just before Scott had stopped by with his mother, who unlike him had been excited to wish Barry a happy birthday. Mrs. Evans had been cautiously nice with Iris too, glancing at her son every time she said something in reference to when Iris would come over to visit them.  Scott had stared at the elaborate garland crafted by Ray and Sydney to avoid eye contact, but his fascination for it had seemed genuine.</p><p>“No, he’s really just trying to get noticed by CCPN too,” Iris reassured Barry as she dropped a kiss on his chin. “With his contacts at other schools, we’ll be able to collect actual data to back our claims of the negative effects of social hierarchy in high school. That way the article is more likely to at least make it to some editor’s desk, especially since Scott is Mr. Bridge’s protégé.”</p><p>“Alright,” Barry acknowledged with a responding kiss on her nose, then he dropped one on her lips when she tilted her head up. “Iris, don’t <em> distract me</em>, I’m trying to tell you something!” he chided her lightly.</p><p>“Well, speak up, Allen!” she encouraged him with mock impatience.</p><p>“Professor Wells,” he started, and he swiftly moved his hands to hold her head still when she rolled it in exasperation—he was such a <em> fanboy! </em></p><p>“Professor Wells is offering <em> scholarships </em> through S.T.A.R. Labs to students enrolling at CCU,” Barry started over as he brushed his thumbs over her cheekbones, and Iris got intrigued by his barely contained excitement.</p><p>What did that have to do with either of them? Yes, they'd both been accepted to CCU, but Barry didn’t need a scholarship, and Iris wasn’t going into a science major.</p><p>“He told me that he looked you up after I tutored you for pre-calc, because he was intrigued and impressed by your choice of taking that class. Turns out, you’re the <em> only student </em> at CC High who’s not going into a science major and has taken that college class. College students themselves go for the easier chemistry or biology courses if they're not science majors. Iris, Professor Wells agrees with me that you’re very smart and studious. <em> And </em> an amazing writer.”</p><p>“Oh,” Iris reacted, very flattered albeit shocked to get such a compliment from the famous Dr. Wells. “Thanks?”</p><p>“He can’t tell any of us anything about it now, but he’s working on a big project,” Barry informed her, his volume instinctively going lower. “Which might take until after we all graduate to complete. He said that if you’d like to be part of the social media team as an intern at S.T.A.R. Lab...then he’d gladly offer <em> you </em> a scholarship too! He said, and I quote: ‘teaching science shouldn’t stop in the classroom, but there’s so much scientists like us can do to pass on our knowledge to people who aren’t formally trained to read and understand scientific reports. Journalists are therefore an essential link between the scientific community and the wider public, and I can’t think of anyone more promising to strengthen that link than Miss West, who’s not only a great writer, but possesses the important personality traits shared by all of us seekers of truth: perseverance, and a near obsession to understand the unfamiliar.’”</p><p><em> “Oh my God,” </em> Iris whispered, more than flattered now. </p><p>She was <em>honored</em> by the praise, and elated at how proud Barry was for her. </p><p>After they exchanged clumsy kisses because they couldn’t stop giggling in happiness, Iris promised to talk to Professor Wells the very next day.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Prom night was <em> almost </em> perfect<em>. </em> From Barry gaping at the sight of her in her prom dress and his still jittery interaction with her parents, to them singing old songs from their childhood on the way to the prom venue; from them being announced prom king and queen, and receiving a loud applause from their friends and well-wishers, to the bitter congratulations they got from Becky and Tony, and even Scott; from their perfect opening dance because <em> of course </em> Barry could dance, to laughing at Cisco who just… <em> jerked </em>around on the dancefloor, his pretty hair his only redeeming point; from Barry and Iris finding a quiet corner during a slow dance and swaying together as they exchanged kisses they managed to keep chaste, to Barry complimenting her the entire time, not just for her pretty looks but for achievements, especially for submitting that exposé to CCPN.</p><p>But something triggered Barry somehow, maybe it was the semi darkness of the room? The point was, he had a mini panic attack in the middle of a conversation while they were seated on their thrones. Iris tried not to crowd him as she followed him outside and she felt her own breath go wild when he took off in a sprint.</p><p>“Sorry,” he apologized breathlessly after running a lap around the building, returning without his crown. “Running’s ironically the only thing that helps. I’m so sorry I ruined this, we were having such a great time…”</p><p>Iris chided him gently for apologizing for something he had no control over, and she proposed to drive him home early. Their friends were disappointed to see them leave so soon of course, but Cisco and Caitlin seemed to figure out what had happened—Iris was so grateful that Barry had such supportive friends.</p><p>Before leaving, Iris decided to give one last speech to the class.</p><p>“The king and I are retiring early,” she started with levity, totally expecting the whistles and catcalls. “But the night is young, so we want you to enjoy it to the maximum!”</p><p>She let the responding cheer quiet down before speaking again, her tone serious this time.</p><p>“This is possibly the last night we can afford to be wild and carefree and stupid, though as your queen I order all of you to be wise in the decisions you make tonight, as some of them could have an impact on your life much further down the line. I also order you to take in the energy, the <em> vibrancy </em> that’s in this room right now. Do you feel it? Store some of it in your brain and in your heart. It’s supposed to carry us through the months, years, possibly decades of uncertainty awaiting us, to keep us going during the times when we’ll remember high school as the <em> good old days</em>. For some of us, getting the approval of college instructors will become our new mission; for others, it will be getting the approval of bosses, co-workers, new friends, and let’s not kid ourselves: we will never stop trying to please our parents or parent figures. On top of that, we’ll have to worry about money, money, and <em> more money</em>: to pay our bills, to reimburse our loans, to fund our dreams…It’s going to be <em> hard</em>, guys. Hopefully not all the time, but tough times are ahead. I’m not saying that now to spoil our fun tonight. I’m telling you that so you’ll remember me when such times come, and not just because I’m your awesome prom queen and we’re <em> the best class ever of Central City High School!</em>”</p><p>More cheers, and as the crowd quieted down, Iris exchanged an intense gaze with Barry, who was standing to the side off the steps of the podium.</p><p>He was about to shake his head, she could tell, but he stopped himself, took a deep breath, and walked up on the platform, taking the microphone she handed to him.</p><p>“She wants you to remember her when it gets hard,” he smoothly picked up her speech just as he smoothly wrapped his free arm around her waist. “Because hopefully as you remember her, you’ll remember <em> me too</em>. I mean, how could you not? The first nerd ever voted prom king. I’m legendary already!”</p><p>Laughter, and Iris could feel that Barry’s own chuckle was forced, but he powered through.</p><p>“Seriously, think about it: <em> a nerd </em> got elected <em> prom king,</em>” he reiterated as he scanned the crowd with a serious look. “What does that tell us? That we can do whatever we put our mind to, regardless of the rules or the tiny voice in our head saying that we can't. You might think that this is high school and the real world is different, but that’s not totally true. Someone wise once told me that high school never ends: there’s always going to be an arrogant jerk, a know-it all, a quiet one, an authority figure underestimating you, and a self-serving opportunist ready to step on you to climb the ranks…And there’s always going to be <em> you</em>, working your hardest to not just get by, because we at CC High we don’t get by, <em> we make history! </em>”</p><p>“We make history!” The crowd repeated the school’s motto. </p><p>“So just like you voted for me against all odds, vote for <em> yourself </em> when it seems like you can’t pass that class, or ask that person out for a date, or ace that interview, or get that internship, or land that dream job, or lose weight, or even just get up in the morning and get <em> one thing </em> done, even if it’s just feeding yourself. Because, guys, the only thing ever stopping us from making history, is <em> ourselves</em>. When Iris told me to run for prom king, I told her that it was ridiculous, that no one would vote for me. Yet here I stand, my crown, <em> huh, </em> I lost it somewhere…”(the crowd exploded in laughter) “Anyways, guys! Never give up even when it seems that your dream is impossible to achieve. Always channel this feeling that we’re all feeling in the air right now, and let it fuel you as you work on making your own history. Now, get back to your lame dance moves while I escort the queen to her castle.”</p><p>Catcalls and whistles again, just like at the beginning of Iris’ speech, and she beamed at how Barry had brought it full circle.</p><p>He was a little shaky as they got off the podium, but the closer they got to the exit, waving their friends goodbye, the calmer he got.</p><p>“When I told you that I’m not socially challenged, I didn’t mean that I'm an expert in <em> public speaking!</em>” he whined as he pulled her into a tight embrace and sighed loud and long.</p><p>“You did amazing, Barry,” Iris complimented him softly before lifting off her toes to kiss his cheek.</p><p>She ended up staying at his place, and called her parents to let them know. She promised not to do anything stupid, and was relieved and touched when her parents assured her that they trusted her.</p><p>“I’m not going to jump you, don’t worry,” she told Barry with a little laugh when he squinted at her in the near darkness of his bedroom the moment she sneaked in, even though she was supposed to sleep in the guestroom she’d gradually filled in with a few personal articles over the last weeks.</p><p>“I just…We can share a bed, right?” she requested shyly. “Just snuggle a bit? We never…I think after our camping trip in second grade we never got to do that. The closest we ever got was…You know?”</p><p>“Yeah,” he confirmed as he drew out the bedsheets for her, definitely knowing that she was referring to the night of his mom’s murder. “It was nice to feel you next to me like that. It definitely calmed me down.”</p><p>“I’m a bit nervous,” Iris admitted as she sat down, squeezing her satin pillow against her chest as she looked at his alarm clock on the nightstand. “That speech was as much for my benefit as it was for the others.”</p><p>“Same,” he admitted. “I’m not worried about college, or interning at S.T.A.R. Labs, I know I can do it. What I’m worried about is…”</p><p>“Getting hired by CCPD as a CSI when everyone there knows about your dad,” Iris followed his train of thoughts. “Has the warden at Iron Heights gotten back to you yet? Do you know when you can visit Henry?”</p><p>“No, but I should get an answer by the end of the week,” he answered evenly, but then he sighed loudly and extended his arm towards her.</p><p>Iris carefully placed her satin pillow on the bed before lying down and shimmying into his embrace.</p><p>(She had brought a spare scarf too, and Barry had seen her in it already, but she just wanted to look nice tonight, to keep up the whole illusion of being this glamorous queen, and it was so stupid, but she just felt like it.)</p><p>“What about you?” Barry asked her. “When do you expect words from Picture News?”</p><p>“According to Mr. Bridge we’ll know by the end of the week too,” she answered with a little sigh of her own. “I don’t even care about being published at this point, I just want to know that someone read the article from beginning to end and has something nice to say about it.”</p><p>“You’ll get published,” Barry assured her as he dropped a kiss on her forehead. “Then you'll be the one keeping everyone updated on the projects at S.T.A.R. Labs."</p><p>Iris still couldn't believe that she'd landed an internship before graduation. She was so grateful for Professor Wells giving her a scholarship and a job she knew that she would adore.</p><p>When she'd voiced her doubt about deserving such honors, the scientist had assured her that she wasn't getting the position just because she's Barry's girlfriend, but because of his own opinion of her work ethics and because of Miss Harper's praise too.</p><p>"You’re going to be an amazing reporter, Iris," Barry predicted, and she could hear the smile in his voice. "Central City will be so lucky to have you keeping them informed of what matters.”</p><p>“Starting with the information that Henry Allen isn’t the monster he’s been painted as for the past seven years,” Iris asserted seriously. “Barry, I think…I think that I should come with you to Iron Heights and interview your dad about that night. If he’s comfortable with that. You can at least call him before the visit, right?”</p><p>"Iris, your parents will <em> kill me </em> if I get you anywhere close to the penitentiary,” he argued. “My dad will definitely say that it’s not a place for a young lady like you.”</p><p>“Parents will be parents,” Iris countered with levity before getting serious again. “What do <em> you </em> say, Barry? I only need <em> your permission </em> and my ID to get in. Would you like me to come with you?”</p><p>His breath got shallow for a few seconds before he turned on his side and gathered her fully in both arms, holding her tight against his chest.</p><p>“Yes, <em> please </em> Iris,” he pleaded quietly, his voice breaking. “After all these years, I don’t know how I’ll react when I see him, and what if I—what if I look at him and don't see the loving dad and husband that I remember, but the <em>monster</em> everyone says he is? I'm not a kid anymore, what if…”</p><p>Your dad isn’t a monster,” Iris cut him off as she kissed his collarbone and hugged him back tightly. “He <em> isn’t, </em>Barry. Your dad is a good man and he loved your mother very much. But of course Henry will look different from how you remember him. Prison is hard even for the truly guilty criminals, for the real monsters. So it has to be harder on your dad, who’s <em> innocent</em>. But he must remember things from that night, things that no one wanted to hear because they’d already judged him guilty or because there was no proof then. We need his testimony to find a new lead, to find the evidence that will help set him free. However long it will take us to get Henry out, we’ll get him home. Alright?”</p><p>“<em>Thank you, </em> Iris,” Barry told her instead of replying, probably refusing to get his hopes too high. </p><p>They both shed a few tears, and then kissed a little—no they kissed <em>a lot</em>, and when Iris ended up on top of Barry, trying her best to get his mind away from his dad, it was all she could do to respect her promise not to jump her boyfriend.</p><p>His shaky voice as he chanted her name like a prayer, the warmth of his hands as they skidded across her back, the heat between their bodies...All of those factors worked against her resolution to be responsible. Fortunately, the emotional exhaustion took its toll on Barry, who fell asleep in her arms before she could decide to throw caution in the wind.</p><p>Iris' strong sense of smell woke her up early in the morning, or maybe it was her stomach who reminded her that she hadn't eaten anything since early dinner before prom.</p><p>After she identified the smell of pancakes and hot chocolate, she rushed to the guest bathroom to pee and brush her teeth and fix her hair to the best of her ability before joining Barry in the kitchen.</p><p>“Aww, I wanted to bring you breakfast in bed,” he let her know with the cutest pout before he slid a pancake from the pan to the ridiculous high pile he’d already made. “Morning. How’d you sleep?”</p><p>“Very well!” she exclaimed as she realized that it was the truth. </p><p>She never slept very well at her friends' places, not even at Linda’s. She'd reasoned that it was because her body knew that she wasn't home.</p><p><em> Barry’s home, </em> she guessed internally. <em> I used to sleep perfectly well at the Allens, probably because he was around.</em></p><p>“And you?” She asked back.</p><p>“Best sleep I’ve had since I came back to Central City,” he confessed a bit shyly. “I’m glad…That I didn’t wake you up with a nightmare. It doesn’t happen often, don’t worry, just—”</p><p>“Just hold on for forty three more days and I’ll be able to distract you from those infrequent nightmares,” Iris declared casually while counting down from five in her head...right on cue, Barry’s face went completely red.</p><p>“Iris West!” He reprimanded her, turning his back to her to split the pancakes between two plates. “You’re terrible,” he added when he faced her again, his face back to normal.</p><p>“But you love me,” she reminded him with a big smile when he handed her her share of pancakes and a mug of liquid chocolate. “And I love you too, Barry Allen.”</p><p>Barry blushed again, but he didn’t try to hide this time.</p><p>“I love you, Iris West,” he confirmed calmly, like it was the one thing he was the most certain about in the world.</p><p>It definitely felt like it for her.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“Thank you so much for calling me, Harrison,” Eric Thompson said with a quiet sigh on the other end of the line. “I suspected that Barry would try to contact his father, and since he’s eighteen now I can’t stop him from calling or visiting that murderer. But knowing that you’ll keep an eye on him is reassuring. I don’t know how to express my gratitude, really. If there’s anything you need…” </p><p>“Your donation was more than I needed to build S.T.A.R. Labs, Eric, and no need to thank me,” Harrison reassured him. “Barry is a brilliant young man, he’s a delight to work with. I only hope that I’ll be able to dissuade him from working for the police. The heir to the Thompson empire, collecting evidence on gruesome crime scenes? Donald would turn over in his grave. I owe your father to keep his only grandson on the right path. I’ll do what I can to keep him away from Henry. How is Elena doing?”</p><p>“Mom’s angry that Barry isn’t coming back for college,” Eric admitted. “And that I didn’t manage to convince him to take the Thompson name. At least with you as his mentor, we don’t have to worry about Henry’s name closing doors to the boy. This feels like history repeating itself—ah, no offense.”</p><p>“None taken, and indeed, history is repeating itself,” the scientist agreed, not an ounce of his internal fury slipping through his voice. “But this time around, I’ll make sure that our two families keep a strong bond. No more tragedy will break us apart. Instead, this time I'll make Central City remember us for giving it international fame."</p><p>"Just what are you building in that lab of yours, Harrison ?" Eric asked, curious.</p><p>"The future, Eric, the future," he answered cryptically.</p><p><em> And none of you will be alive to see it, </em> he vowed in his head. <em> By the time I get acclaimed for reshaping the face of science,</em><em> the Thompson name will have completely faded from history. </em></p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you all so much for the amazing reception to this teenagers AU! Kudos and comments are always appreciated.</p><p>Blame HartSense26809 for the cliffhanger! Her terrific West-Allen thriller AU "Second Chances" has planted ideas in my head.<br/>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22934560/chapters/54820843<br/>Go check it out! Just make sure to read the tags, don't be like me lol the angst is so good I want it turned into a movie. Nothing's impossible.<br/>So yeah, there will be a sequel with a mature rating, because I feel like this story is incomplete without Barry and Iris' first time anyways. Right?</p><p>If you've been waiting for updates on "Innocence Is Gone", chapter 27 is out!</p><p>Everyone please be safe and take care in these times of quarantine!</p>
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